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 607

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 December 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

140

1 October 1909

William Wilson Gebron
Jeannie Dean Winder

William Wilson Gibson
Jeannie Stein Winder
💍 1909/6015

Widower
Spinster

Wool classer
Domestic

40
27

East Invercargill
East Invercargill

3 days
7 days

Residence of William Jackson Winder, Jackson St. E, Invercargill

09/7776

1 October 1909

Rev. Frank Hales

No	140
Date of Notice	1 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wilson Gebron	Jeannie Dean Winder
BDM Match (88%)	William Wilson Gibson	Jeannie Stein Winder
	💍 1909/6015
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Wool classer	Domestic
Age	40	27
Dwelling Place	East Invercargill	East Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	7 days
Marriage Place	Residence of William Jackson Winder, Jackson St. E, Invercargill
Folio	09/7776
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Frank Hales

141

6 October 1909

Robert Winning
Edith Mary Smith

Robert Winning
Edith Mary Smith
💍 1909/6462

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist
Domestic

31
26

Yarrow St., Invercargill
Yarrow St., Invercargill

3 days
26 years

Wesleyan Church, Leet St., Invercargill

09/8074

6 October 1909

Rev. A. Mitchell

No	141
Date of Notice	6 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Winning	Edith Mary Smith
	💍 1909/6462
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist	Domestic
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Yarrow St., Invercargill	Yarrow St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Leet St., Invercargill
Folio	09/8074
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mitchell

142

6 October 1909

William John Harris
Harriet Agnes Fisher

William John Harris
Harriet Agnes Fisher
💍 1909/5992

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

26
24

Waihiwe, Invercargill
Waihiwe, Invercargill

26 years
14 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

09/7746

6 October 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	142
Date of Notice	6 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Harris	Harriet Agnes Fisher
	💍 1909/5992
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Waihiwe, Invercargill	Waihiwe, Invercargill
Length of Residence	26 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	09/7746
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

143

7 October 1909

William Charles Gutzeit
Beatrice Alice Rogers

William Charles Gutzewitz
Beatrice Alice Rogers
💍 1909/6016

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

32
25

Grace St. South, Invercargill
Ettrick St., Invercargill

18 years
25 years

Residence of Rev. T. G. Pybus

09/7777

7 October 1909

Rev. T. G. Pybus

No	143
Date of Notice	7 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Gutzeit	Beatrice Alice Rogers
BDM Match (96%)	William Charles Gutzewitz	Beatrice Alice Rogers
	💍 1909/6016
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Grace St. South, Invercargill	Ettrick St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	18 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. T. G. Pybus
Folio	09/7777
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. G. Pybus

144

7 October 1909

James Milne
Caroline Royds Cook

James Milne
Caroline Noyes Cook
💍 1909/6498

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

45
25

Esk St., Invercargill
Liddel St., Invercargill

2 years
25 years

English Church, Tay St., Invercargill

09/7754

7 October 1909

Rev. Upcher Stocker

No	144
Date of Notice	7 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Milne	Caroline Royds Cook
BDM Match (95%)	James Milne	Caroline Noyes Cook
	💍 1909/6498
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	45	25
Dwelling Place	Esk St., Invercargill	Liddel St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	25 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay St., Invercargill
Folio	09/7754
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Upcher Stocker

145

9 October 1909

William Crowther
Ethel Murray

William Crowther
Ethel Murray
💍 1909/6619

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

24
19

Oteramika Road, Invercargill
Sydney St. North, Invercargill

2 years
18 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

09/7747

James Murray, father

9 October 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	145
Date of Notice	9 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Crowther	Ethel Murray
	💍 1909/6619
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Oteramika Road, Invercargill	Sydney St. North, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	09/7747
Consent	James Murray, father
Date of Certificate	9 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

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).