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 681

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1909 Registrar Alexander Adam Duain

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

2748

4 January 1909

Henry John Dash
Margaret Symington

Henry John Dash
Margaret Symington
💍 1909/7316

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachbuilder

27
28

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
20 years

In the residence of John Symington, New Street, Oamaru

09/1674

4 January 1909

Rev. R. S. Porter

No	2748
Date of Notice	4 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Dash	Margaret Symington
	💍 1909/7316
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of John Symington, New Street, Oamaru
Folio	09/1674
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. S. Porter

2749

20 January 1909

William Blyth
Elizabeth Helen Burnett

William Blyth
Elizabeth Helen Burnett
💍 1909/773

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker

27
31

Oamaru
Wellington

8 months
15 years

In the residence of Mr R. Tait, Taitville, Wellington

09/669

20 January 1909

Rev. Gibson Smith

No	2749
Date of Notice	20 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Blyth	Elizabeth Helen Burnett
	💍 1909/773
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker
Age	27	31
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Wellington
Length of Residence	8 months	15 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr R. Tait, Taitville, Wellington
Folio	09/669
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Gibson Smith

2750

1 February 1909

James Barclay
Isabella McVey Wilson

James Barclay
Isabella McVey Wilson
💍 1909/7202

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

47
28

Kurow
Oamaru

23 years
3 weeks

In the residence of Mr Robert Wilson, Eden Street, Oamaru

09/1468

1 February 1909

Rev. Thomas Neave

No	2750
Date of Notice	1 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Barclay	Isabella McVey Wilson
	💍 1909/7202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	47	28
Dwelling Place	Kurow	Oamaru
Length of Residence	23 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr Robert Wilson, Eden Street, Oamaru
Folio	09/1468
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Neave

2751

1 February 1909

John Francis Joll
Grace Thorpe

John Francis Tole
Grace Thorpe
💍 1909/7200

Bachelor
Spinster

Mercantile Clerk

27
25

Oamaru
Oamaru

15 years
25 years

In the Wesleyan Church, Eden Street, Oamaru

09/1466

1 February 1909

Rev. Lewis Hudson

No	2751
Date of Notice	1 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis Joll	Grace Thorpe
BDM Match (94%)	John Francis Tole	Grace Thorpe
	💍 1909/7200
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mercantile Clerk
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	15 years	25 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church, Eden Street, Oamaru
Folio	09/1466
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Lewis Hudson

2752

10 February 1909

William Sutherland
Emma Caroline Tempero

William Sutherland
Emma Caroline Tempero
💍 1909/7223

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

36
31

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
1 month

At the residence of Mr Tempero, Hall Street, Oamaru

09/1537

10 February 1909

Rev. Wm. Wright

No	2752
Date of Notice	10 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Sutherland	Emma Caroline Tempero
	💍 1909/7223
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	36	31
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr Tempero, Hall Street, Oamaru
Folio	09/1537
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Wright

2753

26 February 1909

John Watson Hamilton
Amy Johnston

John Watson Hamilton
Amy Johnston
💍 1909/7317

Widower
Spinster

Mason

30
21

Oamaru
Oamaru

30 years
4 years

In the residence of Alexander Johnstone, North Road

09/1675

26 February 1909

Rev. R. J. Porter

No	2753
Date of Notice	26 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Watson Hamilton	Amy Johnston
	💍 1909/7317
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Mason
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	30 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Alexander Johnstone, North Road
Folio	09/1675
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter

2754

10 March 1909

Archibald Eddington
Mary Ann Carlyou

Archibald Eddington
Mary Ann Carlyon
💍 1909/6704

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

32
23

Oamaru
South Oamaru

4 days
3 weeks

In the Primitive Methodist Church, South Oamaru

09/1449

10 March 1909

Rev. Jno. Harris

No	2754
Date of Notice	10 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Eddington	Mary Ann Carlyou
BDM Match (97%)	Archibald Eddington	Mary Ann Carlyon
	💍 1909/6704
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	South Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Primitive Methodist Church, South Oamaru
Folio	09/1449
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jno. Harris

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).