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 585

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

22 March 1909

Tremayne Monro Curnow
Jenie Towler Gambling

Tremeyne Moore Curnow
Jessie Parker Gambling
💍 1909/2525

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk in Holy Orders
Domestic

28
24

Tumara, Canterbury
Liffey Street, Invercargill

4 years
10 months

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

09/3560

22 March 1909

Ven. Archdn Stocker

No	38
Date of Notice	22 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tremayne Monro Curnow	Jenie Towler Gambling
BDM Match (79%)	Tremeyne Moore Curnow	Jessie Parker Gambling
	💍 1909/2525
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk in Holy Orders	Domestic
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Tumara, Canterbury	Liffey Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	10 months
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/3560
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdn Stocker

24 March 1909

Alexander Anderson
Doris M Shannon

Alexander Anderson
Dora Mary McKinnon
💍 1909/2521

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
20

Wrights Bush, Southland
Wrights Bush, Southland

10 years
20 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

09/3556

24 March 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	39
Date of Notice	24 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Anderson	Doris M Shannon
BDM Match (75%)	Alexander Anderson	Dora Mary McKinnon
	💍 1909/2521
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Wrights Bush, Southland	Wrights Bush, Southland
Length of Residence	10 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	09/3556
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

27 March 1909

William Henry Cochrane
Margaret McNeill

William Henry Cochrane
Margaret McNeill
💍 1909/2458

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
24

Spar Bush, Southland
Thornbury, Wallace

18 years
24 years

Residence of Mr McNeill, Thornbury, Riverton

09/3673

27 March 1909

Rev. H. H. Barton

No	40
Date of Notice	27 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Cochrane	Margaret McNeill
	💍 1909/2458
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Spar Bush, Southland	Thornbury, Wallace
Length of Residence	18 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr McNeill, Thornbury, Riverton
Folio	09/3673
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. H. Barton

27 March 1909

Robert Davidson Sim
Florence Edgington

Robert Davidson Sim
Florence Edginton
💍 1909/7312

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmoulder
Domestic

24
30

Rocromort St, Invercargill
Nith Street, Invercargill

13 years
30 years

Residence of Henry Edgington, Nith Street, Invercargill

09/1671

27 March 1909

Rev. F. W. Dunlop

No	41
Date of Notice	27 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Davidson Sim	Florence Edgington
BDM Match (97%)	Robert Davidson Sim	Florence Edginton
	💍 1909/7312
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmoulder	Domestic
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Rocromort St, Invercargill	Nith Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	13 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Henry Edgington, Nith Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/1671
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Dunlop

29 March 1909

William Knipo
Jane Allison Weaver

William Knipe
Jane Allison
💍 1909/2543

Widower
Widow

Bacon Curer
Domestic

78
71

McQuarrie Street South, Invercargill
Burke Street North, Invercargill

27 years
30 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

09/3555

29 March 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	42
Date of Notice	29 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Knipo	Jane Allison Weaver
BDM Match (78%)	William Knipe	Jane Allison
	💍 1909/2543
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Bacon Curer	Domestic
Age	78	71
Dwelling Place	McQuarrie Street South, Invercargill	Burke Street North, Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	09/3555
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

30 March 1909

William Brown Park
Jane A. Leary

William Burns
Jane McLeay
💍 1909/2588

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool-classer
Domestic

26
29

Kennington, Invercargill
Kennington, Invercargill

7 years
29 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Kennington

09/3601

30 March 1909

Rev. W. Laycock

No	43
Date of Notice	30 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Brown Park	Jane A. Leary
BDM Match (62%)	William Burns	Jane McLeay
	💍 1909/2588
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool-classer	Domestic
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Kennington, Invercargill	Kennington, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Kennington
Folio	09/3601
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Laycock

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).