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 463

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 December 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

454

1 October 1909

Robert Stuart Reid
Ellen Ruth Smith

Robert Stuart Reid
Ellen Ruth Smith
💍 1909/6262

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrical engineer

21 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

22 years
22 years

In the house of Mr N F Smith, 21 York Place, Dunedin

09/7646

1 October 1909

J. G. O'Reilly

No	454
Date of Notice	1 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Stuart Reid	Ellen Ruth Smith
	💍 1909/6262
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrical engineer
Age	21 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	22 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr N F Smith, 21 York Place, Dunedin
Folio	09/7646
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1909
Officiating Minister	J. G. O'Reilly

455

1 October 1909

William McKay Elder
Ann Helen Mitchell

William McKay Elder
Ann Helen Mitchell
💍 1909/6242

Widower
Spinster

Implement manufacturer

30 years
33 years

Dunedin
Roslyn

3 days
3 years

In the house of Mrs Jas Mitchell, 36 Pacific Street, Roslyn

09/7602

1 October 1909

Jas Chisholm

No	455
Date of Notice	1 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McKay Elder	Ann Helen Mitchell
	💍 1909/6242
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Implement manufacturer
Age	30 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Roslyn
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Jas Mitchell, 36 Pacific Street, Roslyn
Folio	09/7602
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Jas Chisholm

456

1 October 1909

James John Allen
Lillian May Freeman

James John Allen
Lillian May Freeman
💍 1909/5945

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller

27 years
26 years

Caversham
South Dunedin

27 years
24 years

In St Peters Church, Caversham

09/7576

1 October 1909

B M King

No	456
Date of Notice	1 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James John Allen	Lillian May Freeman
	💍 1909/5945
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller
Age	27 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	27 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In St Peters Church, Caversham
Folio	09/7576
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1909
Officiating Minister	B M King

457

1 October 1909

William Blacklock
Mary Josephine Quinton

William Blacklock
Mary Josephine Quin
💍 1909/6260

Bachelor
Spinster

Moulder

26 years
25 years

Anderson's Bay
Dunedin

7 years
5 years

In St Patricks Basilica, South Dunedin

09/7643

1 October 1909

J O'Malley

No	457
Date of Notice	1 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Blacklock	Mary Josephine Quinton
BDM Match (93%)	William Blacklock	Mary Josephine Quin
	💍 1909/6260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Moulder
Age	26 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Anderson's Bay	Dunedin
Length of Residence	7 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In St Patricks Basilica, South Dunedin
Folio	09/7643
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1909
Officiating Minister	J O'Malley

458

4 October 1909

David McGregor
Annie Ross Wilson

David McGregor
Annie Ross Wilson
💍 1909/6213

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway employee

29 years
33 years

Caversham
Caversham

29 years
14 months

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

09/7576

4 October 1909

A Maxwell

No	458
Date of Notice	4 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David McGregor	Annie Ross Wilson
	💍 1909/6213
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway employee
Age	29 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	29 years	14 months
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	09/7576
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1909
Officiating Minister	A Maxwell

459

4 October 1909

Nathaniel Campbell
Christina Morrison

Nathaniel Campbell
Christina Morrison
💍 1909/6101

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

27 years
24 years

Roslyn
Roslyn

5 years
24 years

In the Presbyterian Church, Church Street, Roslyn

09/7981

4 October 1909

R R M Sutherland

No	459
Date of Notice	4 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nathaniel Campbell	Christina Morrison
	💍 1909/6101
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	27 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Roslyn
Length of Residence	5 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, Church Street, Roslyn
Folio	09/7981
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1909
Officiating Minister	R R M Sutherland

460

4 October 1909

Arthur Rillstone
Janet Colman

Arthur Rillstone
Janet Colman
💍 1909/5951

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway employee

26 years
28 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

16 years
28 years

In the Methodist Church, St Kilda

09/7656

4 October 1909

F Rands

No	460
Date of Notice	4 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Rillstone	Janet Colman
	💍 1909/5951
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway employee
Age	26 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	16 years	28 years
Marriage Place	In the Methodist Church, St Kilda
Folio	09/7656
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1909
Officiating Minister	F Rands

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

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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).