Intentions to Marry, 1909 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840441, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1909 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1909a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1909b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1909c).

Page 403

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1909 Registrar Henry Maxwell

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

15 February 1909

Andrew Henderson
Mary Fredrica Stevens

Andrew Henderson
Mary Fredrecia Stevens
💍 1909/7274

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
25

Maori Hill
Dunedin

8 years
12 months

In the house of John R. Stevens, 16 Duke Street, Dunedin

09/1608

15 February 1909

E. D. Blamores

No	84
Date of Notice	15 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Henderson	Mary Fredrica Stevens
BDM Match (95%)	Andrew Henderson	Mary Fredrecia Stevens
	💍 1909/7274
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Maori Hill	Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 years	12 months
Marriage Place	In the house of John R. Stevens, 16 Duke Street, Dunedin
Folio	09/1608
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1909
Officiating Minister	E. D. Blamores

15 February 1909

Francis William Mitchell
Mary Isabella Glendenning

Francis William Mitchell
Mary Isabella Glendining
💍 1909/7329

Bachelor
Spinster

Stationer

43
33

Mornington
North East Valley

40 years
33 years

At the residence of Robert Glendenning, North East Valley

09/1713

15 February 1909

Wm. Hewitson

No	85
Date of Notice	15 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis William Mitchell	Mary Isabella Glendenning
BDM Match (96%)	Francis William Mitchell	Mary Isabella Glendining
	💍 1909/7329
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stationer
Age	43	33
Dwelling Place	Mornington	North East Valley
Length of Residence	40 years	33 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Robert Glendenning, North East Valley
Folio	09/1713
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hewitson

15 February 1909

James Francis Peters
Ellen Catherine Carter

James Francis Peters
Ellen Catherine Carter
💍 1909/65

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller
Milliner

26
28

Dunedin
Mornington

3 days
20 years

In St. John's Church, Roslyn

09/1552

15 February 1909

H. W. Snow

No	86
Date of Notice	15 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Francis Peters	Ellen Catherine Carter
	💍 1909/65
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller	Milliner
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	In St. John's Church, Roslyn
Folio	09/1552
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1909
Officiating Minister	H. W. Snow

17 February 1909

William Charles Slater Hay
Sarah Cameron

William Charles Slater Hay
Sarah Cameron
💍 1909/6703

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
School Teacher

29
32

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
32 years

In the house of A. Cameron, 11 Grant Street, Dunedin

09/1448

17 February 1909

A. W. Rimmont

No	87
Date of Notice	17 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Slater Hay	Sarah Cameron
	💍 1909/6703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	School Teacher
Age	29	32
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	32 years
Marriage Place	In the house of A. Cameron, 11 Grant Street, Dunedin
Folio	09/1448
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1909
Officiating Minister	A. W. Rimmont

17 February 1909

William Dargie
Elizabeth Hendry Gibbs

William Dargie
Elizabeth Hendy Gibbs
💍 1909/7257

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Machinist

27
26

Maori Hill
Maori Hill

3 days
5 weeks

In the house of D. Gibbs, 2 Henry Street, Maori Hill

09/1614

17 February 1909

Josiah Ward

No	88
Date of Notice	17 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Dargie	Elizabeth Hendry Gibbs
BDM Match (98%)	William Dargie	Elizabeth Hendy Gibbs
	💍 1909/7257
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Machinist
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Maori Hill	Maori Hill
Length of Residence	3 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of D. Gibbs, 2 Henry Street, Maori Hill
Folio	09/1614
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Josiah Ward

17 February 1909

David Henderson McLean
Catherine Violet Herbison

David Henderson McLean
Catherine Violet Herbison
💍 1909/4024

Bachelor
Spinster

Brass Moulder
Milliner

23
21

Green Island
Green Island

23 years
21 years

In the Presbyterian Church, Green Island

09/5360

17 February 1909

J. Kirkpatrick

No	89
Date of Notice	17 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Henderson McLean	Catherine Violet Herbison
	💍 1909/4024
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brass Moulder	Milliner
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Green Island	Green Island
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, Green Island
Folio	09/5360
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1909
Officiating Minister	J. Kirkpatrick

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).