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 611

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

164

15 November 1909

James Norman Asmow
Margaret McGreer

James Norman Armour
Margaret McGruer
💍 1909/6503

Bachelor
Spinster

Hardware Manager
Domestic

25
23

Kelvin Road, Invercargill
Elles Road E, Invercargill

7 years
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

09/7769

15 November 1909

Rev. E. Lindsay

No	164
Date of Notice	15 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Norman Asmow	Margaret McGreer
BDM Match (89%)	James Norman Armour	Margaret McGruer
	💍 1909/6503
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hardware Manager	Domestic
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Kelvin Road, Invercargill	Elles Road E, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/7769
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Lindsay

165

22 November 1909

John Fahey
Nora Forde

John Fahey
Nora Forde
💍 1909/6604

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
21

Don Street, Invercargill
Don Street, Invercargill

3 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

09/7784

22 November 1909

Very Rev. C. Burke

No	165
Date of Notice	22 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Fahey	Nora Forde
	💍 1909/6604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Don Street, Invercargill	Don Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/7784
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. C. Burke

166

23 November 1909

William James Duncan
Ivy Minnie Elizabeth Wood

William James Duncan
Ivy Minnie Elizabeth Wood
💍 1909/6001

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

25
19

Pomona Road, Invercargill
Venus Street S, Invercargill

3 days
1 year

Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, Invercargill

09/7785

Emma Mary Wood, mother

23 November 1909

Rev. J. A. Pybus

No	166
Date of Notice	23 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Duncan	Ivy Minnie Elizabeth Wood
	💍 1909/6001
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Pomona Road, Invercargill	Venus Street S, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, Invercargill
Folio	09/7785
Consent	Emma Mary Wood, mother
Date of Certificate	23 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Pybus

167

23 November 1909

George Henry Foothead
Margaret Frances Stewart

George Henry Foothead
Margaret Fraser Stewart
💍 1909/6002

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Domestic

24
25

Grey Street, Invercargill
Pomona Road, Invercargill

1 year
20 years

Residence of James Stewart, Pomona Road, Invercargill

09/7786

23 November 1909

Rev. J. A. Pybus

No	167
Date of Notice	23 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Foothead	Margaret Frances Stewart
BDM Match (94%)	George Henry Foothead	Margaret Fraser Stewart
	💍 1909/6002
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Domestic
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Grey Street, Invercargill	Pomona Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James Stewart, Pomona Road, Invercargill
Folio	09/7786
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Pybus

168

27 November 1909

Ernest Henry Davis
Stella Clara Snelling

Ernest Henry Davis
Stella Klara Malling
💍 1909/6622

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
22

Ell Street, Invercargill
Ell Street, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

09/7750

27 November 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	168
Date of Notice	27 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Henry Davis	Stella Clara Snelling
BDM Match (91%)	Ernest Henry Davis	Stella Klara Malling
	💍 1909/6622
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Ell Street, Invercargill	Ell Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	09/7750
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

169

29 November 1909

John Thomas Thompson
Isabella Campbell Patterson

John Thomas Thompson
Isabella Campbell Patterson
💍 1909/6623

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Hand
Domestic

21
19

Gladstone, Invercargill
Ettrick Street, Invercargill

20 years
2 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

09/7751

William Patterson, father

29 November 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	169
Date of Notice	29 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Thompson	Isabella Campbell Patterson
	💍 1909/6623
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Hand	Domestic
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Gladstone, Invercargill	Ettrick Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	09/7751
Consent	William Patterson, father
Date of Certificate	29 November 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).