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 512

District of East Taieri Quarter ending 31 March 1909 Registrar Gilbert Burness Burns

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

6 February 1909

James McMillan
Margaret Spence

James McMillan
Margaret Spence
💍 1909/7181

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

27
30

Fairfield, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

27 years
20 years

House of James Spence, Mosgiel, Otago

09/1463

6 February 1909

A. C. Randerson, Mosgiel

No	1
Date of Notice	6 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McMillan	Margaret Spence
	💍 1909/7181
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Fairfield, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	27 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of James Spence, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	09/1463
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1909
Officiating Minister	A. C. Randerson, Mosgiel

8 February 1909

Bernard William McLedowney
Bridget Stanlaw Connell

Bernard William McLedowney
Bridget Stanlaw Connell
💍 1909/4008

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer

27
25

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

3 years
14 days

Roman Catholic Church, Mosgiel, Otago

09/5368

8 February 1909

Rev. C. Bryan, Mosgiel

No	2
Date of Notice	8 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard William McLedowney	Bridget Stanlaw Connell
	💍 1909/4008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	3 years	14 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	09/5368
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Bryan, Mosgiel

8 February 1909

Hugh Gibson
Elizabeth Eveline McLeod

Hugh Gibson
Elizabeth Eveline McLeod
💍 1909/6773

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31
22

North Taieri, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

31 years
5 years

House of Hector McLeod, Mosgiel, Otago

09/1685

8 February 1909

Rev. J. Lymburn, North Taieri

No	3
Date of Notice	8 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Gibson	Elizabeth Eveline McLeod
	💍 1909/6773
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	North Taieri, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	31 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Hector McLeod, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	09/1685
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Lymburn, North Taieri

16 February 1909

Charles Herbert Dastier
Marion Nesbit Loudon

Charles Herbert Fastier
Marion Nesbit London
💍 1909/7733

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk

26
27

Fairfield, Otago
Fairfield, Otago

3 days
27 years

House of the late James Loudon, Fairfield, Otago

09/5367

16 February 1909

Rev. J. Kilpatrick, Green Island

No	4
Date of Notice	16 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Herbert Dastier	Marion Nesbit Loudon
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Herbert Fastier	Marion Nesbit London
	💍 1909/7733
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Fairfield, Otago	Fairfield, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	House of the late James Loudon, Fairfield, Otago
Folio	09/5367
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Kilpatrick, Green Island

19 February 1909

Arthur Cyril Randerson
Frances Alice Willis

Arthur Cyril Randerson
Frances Alice Willis
💍 1909/459

Bachelor
Spinster

Clergyman

31
29

Mosgiel, Otago
Auckland

4 years
5 years

Methodist Church, Pitt Street, Auckland

09/321

19 February 1909

Rev. J. A. Luxford, Auckland

No	5
Date of Notice	19 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Cyril Randerson	Frances Alice Willis
	💍 1909/459
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clergyman
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Pitt Street, Auckland
Folio	09/321
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Luxford, Auckland

23 February 1909

Edgar Murdoch Fraser Currie
Margaret Riddell Currie

Edgar Murdoch Fraser Currie
Margaret Riddell Currie
💍 1909/7206

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Operative

28
29

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

2 years
4 days

House of Miss J. Bowan, Mosgiel, Otago

09/1512

23 February 1909

Rev. J. Aitken, Mosgiel

No	6
Date of Notice	23 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Murdoch Fraser Currie	Margaret Riddell Currie
	💍 1909/7206
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Operative
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	2 years	4 days
Marriage Place	House of Miss J. Bowan, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	09/1512
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Aitken, Mosgiel

6 March 1909

James Gawn
Jean Jubilee Hillier Algie

James Gawn
Jean Jubilee Millar Algie
💍 1909/4020

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
21

North Taieri, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

30 years
10 years

East Taieri Church, Otago

09/5379

6 March 1909

Rev. A. K. Kinmont, East Taieri

No	7
Date of Notice	6 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gawn	Jean Jubilee Hillier Algie
BDM Match (94%)	James Gawn	Jean Jubilee Millar Algie
	💍 1909/4020
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	21
Dwelling Place	North Taieri, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	30 years	10 years
Marriage Place	East Taieri Church, Otago
Folio	09/5379
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. K. Kinmont, East Taieri

9 March 1909

Walter Blackie
Betsy Bews

Walter Blackie
Betsy Bews
💍 1909/7306

Widower
Widow

Farmer

56
54

Mosgiel, Otago
Mohorsta

48 years
24 years

At the Manse, Wyndham

09/1664

9 March 1909

Rev. A. Sangster, Wyndham

No	8
Date of Notice	9 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Blackie	Betsy Bews
	💍 1909/7306
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	56	54
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mohorsta
Length of Residence	48 years	24 years
Marriage Place	At the Manse, Wyndham
Folio	09/1664
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Sangster, Wyndham

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).