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 581

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1909 Registrar John Gaunson Petrie

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

3 February 1909

Vernon Charles Smith
Rubina Jane Noble

Vernon Charles Smith
Rubina Jane Noble
💍 1909/4015

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger
Saleswoman

25
23

Tay Street, Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

one year
23 years

Wesleyan Church

09/5375

3 February 1909

Rev. A. Mitchell

No	13
Date of Notice	3 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vernon Charles Smith	Rubina Jane Noble
	💍 1909/4015
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger	Saleswoman
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Tay Street, Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	one year	23 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church
Folio	09/5375
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mitchell

5 February 1909

Thomas Obil Mahon
Catherine Lowe Patterson

Thomas Obie Watson
Catherine Lowe Patterson
💍 1909/6711

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Domestic

22
20

Anna Street, Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

22 years
20 years

English Church

09/145

5 February 1909

Rev. C. Lewin

No	14
Date of Notice	5 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Obil Mahon	Catherine Lowe Patterson
BDM Match (89%)	Thomas Obie Watson	Catherine Lowe Patterson
	💍 1909/6711
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Domestic
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Anna Street, Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	20 years
Marriage Place	English Church
Folio	09/145
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Lewin

8 February 1909

William George Bennett Capil
Matilda Emily Dey

William George Bennett Capil
Matilda Emily Dey
💍 1909/6765

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

25
26

Naimatua, Invercargill
Mataura, Invercargill

2 months
15 years

Residence of Gottlieb Dey

09/1700

8 February 1909

Rev. J. Cumming

No	15
Date of Notice	8 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Bennett Capil	Matilda Emily Dey
	💍 1909/6765
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Naimatua, Invercargill	Mataura, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 months	15 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Gottlieb Dey
Folio	09/1700
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming

9 February 1909

Alexander Francis Henry von Tunzelmann
Elizabeth Constance Adcock

Alexander Francis Henry von Tunzelmann
Elizabeth Constance Adcock
💍 1909/7185

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

30
25

182 Leet Street, Invercargill
21 Thomson Street, Invercargill

10 years
5 months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages

09/1475

9 February 1909

Registrar of Marriages

No	16
Date of Notice	9 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Francis Henry von Tunzelmann	Elizabeth Constance Adcock
	💍 1909/7185
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	182 Leet Street, Invercargill	21 Thomson Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	5 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	09/1475
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

10 February 1909

Richard Brown Lewis
Edith Maria Lewis

Richard Brown
Edith Maria Lewis
💍 1909/7287

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
27

Eye Street, Invercargill
Tay Street, Invercargill

3 days
27 years

Residence of Heggie Lewis, Tay Street

09/1645

10 February 1909

Ven. Archdeacon J. Stacley

No	17
Date of Notice	10 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Brown Lewis	Edith Maria Lewis
BDM Match (84%)	Richard Brown	Edith Maria Lewis
	💍 1909/7287
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Eye Street, Invercargill	Tay Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Heggie Lewis, Tay Street
Folio	09/1645
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon J. Stacley

10 February 1909

Archibald William McEachern
Maude May Varcoe

Archibald William McEachen
Maude May Varcoe
💍 1909/7167

Bachelor
Spinster

Photographer
Domestic

27
23

Tay Street, Invercargill
Ettrick Street, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Residence of Pike & Bryce, Ettrick Street

09/1431

10 February 1909

Reg. R. Raine

No	18
Date of Notice	10 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald William McEachern	Maude May Varcoe
BDM Match (98%)	Archibald William McEachen	Maude May Varcoe
	💍 1909/7167
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Photographer	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Tay Street, Invercargill	Ettrick Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Pike & Bryce, Ettrick Street
Folio	09/1431
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Reg. R. Raine

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).