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 641

District of Manuherikia Quarter ending 31 March 1909 Registrar Francis Egginton

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

12 January 1909

William Herbert Duffy
Letitia Jobin

William Herbert Duffy
Letitia Tobin
💍 1909/798

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

31
24

Alexandrasouth
Alexandrasouth

3 days
9 months

Catholic Church Alexandrasouth

09/644

12 January 1909

Rev. Father Hunt

No	1
Date of Notice	12 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Herbert Duffy	Letitia Jobin
BDM Match (96%)	William Herbert Duffy	Letitia Tobin
	💍 1909/798
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Alexandrasouth	Alexandrasouth
Length of Residence	3 days	9 months
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Alexandrasouth
Folio	09/644
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Hunt

14 January 1909

Henry Hesson
Lulie Jean McGregor

Henry Hesson
Dulcie Jean McGregor
💍 1909/7331

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

25
23

Baldhill Flat
Alexandrasouth

7 years
8 years

Private Residence of Henry Hesson Baldhill Flat

09/1715

14 January 1909

Rev. Ralph Bray

No	2
Date of Notice	14 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hesson	Lulie Jean McGregor
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Hesson	Dulcie Jean McGregor
	💍 1909/7331
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Baldhill Flat	Alexandrasouth
Length of Residence	7 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Henry Hesson Baldhill Flat
Folio	09/1715
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ralph Bray

16 January 1909

Duncan Livingston
Isabel McFennan

Duncan Livingston
Elsie Isabel McLennan
💍 1909/7170

Bachelor
Spinster

Dredgemaster
Domestic duties

40
24

Alexandrasouth
Matakanui

9 years
5 years

Matakanui Hall Matakanui

09/1434

16 January 1909

Rev. A. Watson

No	3
Date of Notice	16 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Livingston	Isabel McFennan
BDM Match (83%)	Duncan Livingston	Elsie Isabel McLennan
	💍 1909/7170
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dredgemaster	Domestic duties
Age	40	24
Dwelling Place	Alexandrasouth	Matakanui
Length of Residence	9 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Matakanui Hall Matakanui
Folio	09/1434
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Watson

3 February 1909

George Alfred Peake
Alice Emily McQueen

George Alfred Peake
Alice Emily McQueen
💍 1909/7340

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

27
25

Alexandrasouth
Alexandrasouth

3 days
3 years

Private Residence of James Randolph McQueen Alexandrasouth

09/1716

3 February 1909

Rev. W. R. Skillett

No	4
Date of Notice	3 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alfred Peake	Alice Emily McQueen
	💍 1909/7340
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Alexandrasouth	Alexandrasouth
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of James Randolph McQueen Alexandrasouth
Folio	09/1716
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Skillett

29 March 1909

John Nelson Michael
Letitia Ann Kitto

John Nelson Michael
Latitia Ann Kitto
💍 1909/7230

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic Duties

25
21

Alexandrasouth
Alexandrasouth

3 days
1 week

Presbyterian Alexandrasouth

09/1520

29 March 1909

Rev. Thomas Knight

No	5
Date of Notice	29 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Nelson Michael	Letitia Ann Kitto
BDM Match (97%)	John Nelson Michael	Latitia Ann Kitto
	💍 1909/7230
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Alexandrasouth	Alexandrasouth
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Alexandrasouth
Folio	09/1520
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Knight

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).