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 610

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

158

6 November 1909

Percy Heans
Ellen Christina Sandie

Percy Steans
Ellen Christina Sandri
💍 1909/6603

Bachelor
Spinster

Rope Maker
Domestic

22
24

Kelvin Street, Invercargill
Kelvin Street, Invercargill

15 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

09/7783

6 November 1909

Very Rev. W. Burke

No	158
Date of Notice	6 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Heans	Ellen Christina Sandie
BDM Match (87%)	Percy Steans	Ellen Christina Sandri
	💍 1909/6603
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Rope Maker	Domestic
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Kelvin Street, Invercargill	Kelvin Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	15 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/7783
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke

159

8 November 1909

Alfred Edward Laney
Roseanna Stiles

Alfred Edward Laney
Roseanna Stiles
💍 1909/6020

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

28
24

Mary Street East, Invercargill
Mary Street East, Invercargill

4 days
5 days

Residence of Charles Arthur Chemell

09/7782

8 November 1909

Rev. T. A. Ryburn

No	159
Date of Notice	8 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Laney	Roseanna Stiles
	💍 1909/6020
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Mary Street East, Invercargill	Mary Street East, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Charles Arthur Chemell
Folio	09/7782
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Ryburn

160

8 November 1909

Andrew Hyde Robertson
Catherine Jane Robertson

Andrew Pryde
Catherine Jane Robertson
💍 1909/6019

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic

32
34

Mary Street East, Invercargill
Tweed Street, Enwood, Invercargill

3 days
34 years

Residence of Allan Langmuir, Tweed Street South, Invercargill

09/7781

8 November 1909

Rev. C. J. Porter

No	160
Date of Notice	8 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Hyde Robertson	Catherine Jane Robertson
BDM Match (71%)	Andrew Pryde	Catherine Jane Robertson
	💍 1909/6019
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic
Age	32	34
Dwelling Place	Mary Street East, Invercargill	Tweed Street, Enwood, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	34 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Allan Langmuir, Tweed Street South, Invercargill
Folio	09/7781
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. J. Porter

161

9 November 1909

Charles Henry Wilson
Jess McKinley Kidd

Charles Henry Wilson
Jess McKinly Kidd
💍 1909/6501

Bachelor
Spinster

Horseman
Domestic

30
24

Lorne, Invercargill
Lorne, Invercargill

3 days
3 years

Residence of John Kidd, Lorne, Invercargill

09/7767

9 November 1909

Rev. J. C. Lemming

No	161
Date of Notice	9 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Wilson	Jess McKinley Kidd
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Henry Wilson	Jess McKinly Kidd
	💍 1909/6501
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horseman	Domestic
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Lorne, Invercargill	Lorne, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Kidd, Lorne, Invercargill
Folio	09/7767
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Lemming

162

12 November 1909

George Macdonald
Caroline Jane Stevens

George Macdonald
Caroline Jane Stevens
💍 1909/6509

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

26
20

Elles Road, Invercargill
Strathern, Invercargill

8 years
8 years

English Church, Invercargill

09/7757

Amy Macdonald, mother

12 November 1909

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	162
Date of Notice	12 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Macdonald	Caroline Jane Stevens
	💍 1909/6509
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Elles Road, Invercargill	Strathern, Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 years	8 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Invercargill
Folio	09/7757
Consent	Amy Macdonald, mother
Date of Certificate	12 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

163

13 November 1909

Augustus Henry Davis
Jane Stevenson

Augustus Henry Davis
Jane Stevenson
💍 1909/6502

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
18

Waituna, Invercargill
Waituna, Invercargill

12 months
18 years

Residence of Stuart Stevenson, Waituna, Invercargill

09/7768

Stuart Stevenson, father

13 November 1909

Rev. E. Reinett

No	163
Date of Notice	13 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Augustus Henry Davis	Jane Stevenson
	💍 1909/6502
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Waituna, Invercargill	Waituna, Invercargill
Length of Residence	12 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Stuart Stevenson, Waituna, Invercargill
Folio	09/7768
Consent	Stuart Stevenson, father
Date of Certificate	13 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Reinett

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).