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 592

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

28 April 1909

John Henry McGrath
Mary Francis Maria Walker

John Henry McMath
Mary Harriet Maria Walker
💍 1909/153

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic

30
29

Esk Street, Invercargill
Liffey Street, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Residence of Mr James Grant, Liffey Street, Invercargill

09/3583

28 April 1909

Rev R. M. Ryburn

No	70
Date of Notice	28 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry McGrath	Mary Francis Maria Walker
BDM Match (82%)	John Henry McMath	Mary Harriet Maria Walker
	💍 1909/153
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, Invercargill	Liffey Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr James Grant, Liffey Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/3583
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev R. M. Ryburn

1 May 1909

Thomas Walter Downie
Esther Elizabeth Matson

Thomas Walter Downie
Esther Elizabeth Watson
💍 1909/154

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

27
23

Yarrow Street, Invercargill
Tay Street, Invercargill

18 months
13 years

Residence of R. M. Ryburn, Tay Street, Invercargill

09/3584

1 May 1909

Rev R. M. Ryburn

No	71
Date of Notice	1 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Walter Downie	Esther Elizabeth Matson
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Walter Downie	Esther Elizabeth Watson
	💍 1909/154
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Yarrow Street, Invercargill	Tay Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	18 months	13 years
Marriage Place	Residence of R. M. Ryburn, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/3584
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev R. M. Ryburn

1 May 1909

Frederick Thomas Samburgh
Hilda Christina McQueen

Frederick Thomas Samburgh
Hilda Christina McQueen
💍 1909/2535

Bachelor
Spinster

Caretaker Germany Baths
Domestic

27
20

Tweed Street, Invercargill
Annar Street, Invercargill

4 years
14 years

Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill

09/3569

Lachlan McQueen, Father

1 May 1909

Rev George Lindsay

No	72
Date of Notice	1 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Thomas Samburgh	Hilda Christina McQueen
	💍 1909/2535
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Caretaker Germany Baths	Domestic
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Tweed Street, Invercargill	Annar Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/3569
Consent	Lachlan McQueen, Father
Date of Certificate	1 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev George Lindsay

5 May 1909

William Timothy Kerr
Winifred Agnes Culling

William Vincent Kerr
Winifred Agnes Culling
💍 1909/6331

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

37
25

Ettrick Street, Invercargill
Ettrick Street, Invercargill

3 days
25 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

09/7801

5 May 1909

Rev J Lynch

No	73
Date of Notice	5 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Timothy Kerr	Winifred Agnes Culling
BDM Match (85%)	William Vincent Kerr	Winifred Agnes Culling
	💍 1909/6331
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	37	25
Dwelling Place	Ettrick Street, Invercargill	Ettrick Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/7801
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev J Lynch

7 May 1909

Reginald James Taylor
Annie Marjory Johnson

Reginald James Ebenezer Taylor
Annie Marjory Johnson
💍 1909/2524

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

24
25

Ness Street, Invercargill
Irth Street, Invercargill

4 months
5 days

English Church "All Saints", Gladstone, Invercargill

09/3559

7 May 1909

Rev Wm Swinburn

No	74
Date of Notice	7 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald James Taylor	Annie Marjory Johnson
BDM Match (85%)	Reginald James Ebenezer Taylor	Annie Marjory Johnson
	💍 1909/2524
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Ness Street, Invercargill	Irth Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 months	5 days
Marriage Place	English Church "All Saints", Gladstone, Invercargill
Folio	09/3559
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm Swinburn

10 May 1909

David Stewart Brown
Emily Stevens Duncan

David Stewart
Emily Stevens Duncan
💍 1909/155

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Housemaid

22
17

Pomona Road, Georgetown, Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

22 years
6 months

Residence of Gilbert Brown, Pomona Road, Georgetown, Invercargill

09/3585

William Duncan, Father

10 May 1909

Rev F. A. Ryburn

No	75
Date of Notice	10 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Stewart Brown	Emily Stevens Duncan
BDM Match (84%)	David Stewart	Emily Stevens Duncan
	💍 1909/155
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Housemaid
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Pomona Road, Georgetown, Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Gilbert Brown, Pomona Road, Georgetown, Invercargill
Folio	09/3585
Consent	William Duncan, Father
Date of Certificate	10 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev F. A. Ryburn

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).