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 601

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 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

115

23 July 1909

Thomas James Gregson
Dany Eleanor Cooper

Thomas James Georgeson
Daisy Eleanor Cooper
💍 1909/7985

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Domestic

28
25

Princes Street, North Invercargill
George Street, North Invercargill

28 years
25 years

Presbyterian Church

09/5597

23 July 1909

Rev. J. C. Baird

No	115
Date of Notice	23 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas James Gregson	Dany Eleanor Cooper
BDM Match (86%)	Thomas James Georgeson	Daisy Eleanor Cooper
	💍 1909/7985
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Domestic
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Princes Street, North Invercargill	George Street, North Invercargill
Length of Residence	28 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	09/5597
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Baird

116

26 July 1909

William Rawson Austin Morrison
Ada Eliza Morrison
formerly Home

William Beamish Austin Morrison
Ada Eliza Morrison
💍 1909/4220

Widower
Widow

Accountant
Domestic

52
57

Dee Street, Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

4 days
4 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages

09/5582

26 July 1909

Registrar of Marriages

No	116
Date of Notice	26 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Rawson Austin Morrison	Ada Eliza Morrison formerly Home
BDM Match (90%)	William Beamish Austin Morrison	Ada Eliza Morrison
	💍 1909/4220
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Accountant	Domestic
Age	52	57
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	09/5582
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

117

2 August 1909

George Walter Driscoll
Isabel Jessie Keating

George Walter Driscoll
Isabella Jessie Keating
💍 1909/7981

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic

20
22

George Street, South Invercargill
Clyde Street, Invercargill

12 years
5 years

Residence of William Jones, Clyde Street

09/5585

2 August 1909

Mr. W. D. Little

No	117
Date of Notice	2 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Walter Driscoll	Isabel Jessie Keating
BDM Match (96%)	George Walter Driscoll	Isabella Jessie Keating
	💍 1909/7981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	George Street, South Invercargill	Clyde Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Jones, Clyde Street
Folio	09/5585
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Mr. W. D. Little

118

2 August 1909

Lawrence Hanrow Marshall
Nellie Jack

Lawrence Honora Marshall
Nellie Jack
💍 1909/8005

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Tailoress

30
23

Tweed Street, Invercargill
Crinan Street, Invercargill

3 months
3 days

English Church, Tay Street

09/5593

2 August 1909

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	118
Date of Notice	2 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Hanrow Marshall	Nellie Jack
BDM Match (92%)	Lawrence Honora Marshall	Nellie Jack
	💍 1909/8005
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Tailoress
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Tweed Street, Invercargill	Crinan Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 months	3 days
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street
Folio	09/5593
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

119

2 August 1909

William Murray Nathaniel Dunlop
Margaret Dunn

William Murray
Margaret Dunn
💍 1909/7987

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic

30
24

Tramway Road, South Invercargill
Tramway Road, South Invercargill

3 days
5 years

Residence of James Dunn, Tramway Road

09/5599

2 August 1909

Rev. F. W. Dunlop

No	119
Date of Notice	2 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Murray Nathaniel Dunlop	Margaret Dunn
BDM Match (73%)	William Murray	Margaret Dunn
	💍 1909/7987
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Tramway Road, South Invercargill	Tramway Road, South Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James Dunn, Tramway Road
Folio	09/5599
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Dunlop

120

6 August 1909

Normanly Constantine Christie
Sophia Rose Stewart

Normanby Constantine Christie
Sophia Rose Stewart
💍 1909/8003

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic

24
30

Doone Street, Invercargill
Bowmont Street, Invercargill

7 years
10 years

Residence of James Stewart, Bowmont Street

09/5591

6 August 1909

Rev. J. C. Standing

No	120
Date of Notice	6 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Normanly Constantine Christie	Sophia Rose Stewart
BDM Match (98%)	Normanby Constantine Christie	Sophia Rose Stewart
	💍 1909/8003
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Doone Street, Invercargill	Bowmont Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James Stewart, Bowmont Street
Folio	09/5591
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Standing

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).