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 590

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 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

8 April 1909

Francis James Lillicrap
Annie Hall Blake

Francis James Lillicrap
Annie Hall Blakie
💍 1909/172

Bachelor
Spinster

Stationer
Domestic

44
38

Liddel Street, Invercargill
Crinan Street, Invercargill

39 years
4 years

Residence of Jane Blake, Crinan Street, Invercargill

09/3578

8 April 1909

Rev. W. Dunlop

No	58
Date of Notice	8 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis James Lillicrap	Annie Hall Blake
BDM Match (97%)	Francis James Lillicrap	Annie Hall Blakie
	💍 1909/172
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stationer	Domestic
Age	44	38
Dwelling Place	Liddel Street, Invercargill	Crinan Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	39 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Jane Blake, Crinan Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/3578
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Dunlop

11 April 1909

Thomas William Toodger
Julia Elizabeth Scally

Thomas William Goodger
Julia Elizabeth Scally
💍 1909/6013

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

41
35

Grey Street, Invercargill
Grey Street, Invercargill

3 days
12 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

09/7797

11 April 1909

Very Rev. William Burke V.F.

No	59
Date of Notice	11 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Toodger	Julia Elizabeth Scally
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas William Goodger	Julia Elizabeth Scally
	💍 1909/6013
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	41	35
Dwelling Place	Grey Street, Invercargill	Grey Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/7797
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. William Burke V.F.

13 April 1909

William James Moffitt
Hannah Cooper

William James Moffitt
Hannah Cooper
💍 1909/173

Widower
Widow

Miner
Domestic

43
39

Don Street, Invercargill
Don Street, Invercargill

5 days
30 years

Residence of Alexander Nisbet, East Invercargill

09/3579

13 April 1909

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	60
Date of Notice	13 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Moffitt	Hannah Cooper
	💍 1909/173
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	43	39
Dwelling Place	Don Street, Invercargill	Don Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 days	30 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Alexander Nisbet, East Invercargill
Folio	09/3579
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

13 April 1909

Ernest Henry Colvin
Lucy Jessy Grindlay

Ernest Henry Colvin
Lucy Jessy Gundlay
💍 1909/2522

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

19
17

Crinan Street, Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

5 years
5 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

09/3557

George Colvin, father; Agnes Ramsay, mother

13 April 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	61
Date of Notice	13 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Henry Colvin	Lucy Jessy Grindlay
BDM Match (95%)	Ernest Henry Colvin	Lucy Jessy Gundlay
	💍 1909/2522
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	19	17
Dwelling Place	Crinan Street, Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	09/3557
Consent	George Colvin, father; Agnes Ramsay, mother
Date of Certificate	13 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

14 April 1909

Robert George Smithies
Mary McKechnie

Robert George Smithies
Mary McKechine
💍 1909/150

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic
Domestic

22
22

Gala Street, Invercargill
Avenal, Invercargill

3 days
4 years

Residence of James McKechnie, Avenal, Invercargill

09/3580

14 April 1909

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	62
Date of Notice	14 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert George Smithies	Mary McKechnie
BDM Match (93%)	Robert George Smithies	Mary McKechine
	💍 1909/150
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic	Domestic
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Gala Street, Invercargill	Avenal, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James McKechnie, Avenal, Invercargill
Folio	09/3580
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

16 April 1909

John Francis Leonard
Henrietta McGillivray

John Francis Leonard
Henrietta McGillivray
💍 1909/6312

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
23

Rakahouka, Invercargill
Liddel Street, Invercargill

27 years
4 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

09/7798

16 April 1909

Very Rev. W. Burke V.F.

No	63
Date of Notice	16 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis Leonard	Henrietta McGillivray
	💍 1909/6312
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Rakahouka, Invercargill	Liddel Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	4 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/7798
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke V.F.

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).