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 608

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

146

12 October 1909

John William Moore Wright
Annie Westbury

John William Moore Wright
Annie Westbury
💍 1909/6620

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

33
24

Orepuki
Pomona Road, Invercargill

4 years
2 months

Office of the Registrar, Invercargill

09/7748

12 October 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	146
Date of Notice	12 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Moore Wright	Annie Westbury
	💍 1909/6620
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Orepuki	Pomona Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	09/7748
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

147

15 October 1909

James John William Arthur Henry Barragwanath
Lucy Batchelor

James John William Arthur Henry Barrogenneth Brokerska
Lucy Batchelor
💍 1909/6507

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

36
33

Kelvin St, Invercargill
Leet St, Invercargill

30 years
12 years

English Church, Tay St, Invercargill

09/7755

15 October 1909

Rev. A. C. Stocker

No	147
Date of Notice	15 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James John William Arthur Henry Barragwanath	Lucy Batchelor
BDM Match (87%)	James John William Arthur Henry Barrogenneth Brokerska	Lucy Batchelor
	💍 1909/6507
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	36	33
Dwelling Place	Kelvin St, Invercargill	Leet St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	30 years	12 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay St, Invercargill
Folio	09/7755
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Stocker

148

16 October 1909

Levi Wallace Foster
Ina Jane Thompson

Levi Wallace Foster
Ina Jane Thompson
💍 1909/6513

Bachelor
Spinster

Harmonist
Domestic

23
20

Trafalgar, South Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

21 years
7 years

English Church, Gladstone, Invercargill

09/7762

Thomas Thompson, Father

16 October 1909

Rev. A. C. Stocker

No	148
Date of Notice	16 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Levi Wallace Foster	Ina Jane Thompson
	💍 1909/6513
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Harmonist	Domestic
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Trafalgar, South Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	21 years	7 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Gladstone, Invercargill
Folio	09/7762
Consent	Thomas Thompson, Father
Date of Certificate	16 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Stocker

149

18 October 1909

Lewis Sutherland McKenzie
Alice Crowley

Lewis Sutherland McKenzie
Alice Crowley
💍 1909/6602

Bachelor
Spinster

Postman
Domestic

27
24

Beaumont St, Invercargill
Ritchie St East, Invercargill

27 years
24 years

Residence of Timothy Crowley, Ritchie St East, Invercargill

09/7778

18 October 1909

Very Rev. W. Burke

No	149
Date of Notice	18 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lewis Sutherland McKenzie	Alice Crowley
	💍 1909/6602
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postman	Domestic
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Beaumont St, Invercargill	Ritchie St East, Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Timothy Crowley, Ritchie St East, Invercargill
Folio	09/7778
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke

150

19 October 1909

Peter Arthur Thomson
Margaret Elizabeth White

Peter Arthur Thomson
Margaret Elizabeth White
💍 1909/6514

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

25
24

Lochiel, Invercargill
Grasmere, Invercargill

3 days
24 years

Residence of Clara White, Grasmere, Invercargill

09/7763

19 October 1909

Rev. W. Swinburn

No	150
Date of Notice	19 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Arthur Thomson	Margaret Elizabeth White
	💍 1909/6514
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Lochiel, Invercargill	Grasmere, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Clara White, Grasmere, Invercargill
Folio	09/7763
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Swinburn

151

25 October 1909

George McLean
Elizabeth Hickey

George McLeod Walschlyer
Elizabeth Hickey
💍 1909/6499

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

27
20

Nelson St South, Invercargill
Nelson St South, Invercargill

19 years
7 years

Presbyterian Church, Elles Road South, Invercargill

09/7764

25 October 1909

Rev. M. McLean

No	151
Date of Notice	25 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George McLean	Elizabeth Hickey
BDM Match (75%)	George McLeod Walschlyer	Elizabeth Hickey
	💍 1909/6499
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Nelson St South, Invercargill	Nelson St South, Invercargill
Length of Residence	19 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Elles Road South, Invercargill
Folio	09/7764
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. McLean

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).