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 600

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 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

109

14 July 1909

Edward Cephas Orchard
Nellie Trillicum

Edward Aphas Orchard
Nellie Williams
💍 1909/4211

Bachelor
Spinster

Bicycle Agent
Domestic

32
20

Woodend, Invercargill
Woodend, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Residence of George Williams, Woodend

09/5513

George Williams, Father

14 July 1909

Rev. T. A. Pybus

No	109
Date of Notice	14 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Cephas Orchard	Nellie Trillicum
BDM Match (80%)	Edward Aphas Orchard	Nellie Williams
	💍 1909/4211
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bicycle Agent	Domestic
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Woodend, Invercargill	Woodend, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of George Williams, Woodend
Folio	09/5513
Consent	George Williams, Father
Date of Certificate	14 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Pybus

110

14 July 1909

Archibald Mclauchlan
Mary O'Brien

Archibald McCaughan
Mary O'Brien
💍 1909/4331

Widower
Spinster

Shop-farmer
Tailoress

44
31

Esk St., Invercargill
Dee St., Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St.

09/5719

14 July 1909

Very Rev. W. Burke

No	110
Date of Notice	14 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Mclauchlan	Mary O'Brien
BDM Match (93%)	Archibald McCaughan	Mary O'Brien
	💍 1909/4331
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Shop-farmer	Tailoress
Age	44	31
Dwelling Place	Esk St., Invercargill	Dee St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St.
Folio	09/5719
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke

111

16 July 1909

William Duncan
Jane King

William Duncan
Jane King
💍 1909/8001

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman
Domestic

28
20

Leet St., Invercargill
Leet St., Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Residence of Arthur Howard, Leet St.

09/5589

John King, Father

16 July 1909

Rev. A. Mitchell

No	111
Date of Notice	16 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Duncan	Jane King
	💍 1909/8001
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman	Domestic
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Leet St., Invercargill	Leet St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Arthur Howard, Leet St.
Folio	09/5589
Consent	John King, Father
Date of Certificate	16 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mitchell

112

19 July 1909

Hugh John Mckillican
Annie Cecilia Woods

Hugh John McQuilkan
Annie Cecilia Woods
💍 1909/4332

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

27
28

Princes St. North, Invercargill
Spey St., Invercargill

4 years
7 years

Residence of George Woods, Spey St.

09/5720

George Woods, Father

19 July 1909

Very Rev. W. Burke

No	112
Date of Notice	19 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh John Mckillican	Annie Cecilia Woods
BDM Match (88%)	Hugh John McQuilkan	Annie Cecilia Woods
	💍 1909/4332
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Princes St. North, Invercargill	Spey St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of George Woods, Spey St.
Folio	09/5720
Consent	George Woods, Father
Date of Certificate	19 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke

113

21 July 1909

John Chankey Woodward
Dorothea Cecil Tyner

John Chantrey Woodberd
Dorothea Cecil Vyner
💍 1909/8004

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic

28
25

Gala St., Invercargill
Dee St., Invercargill

3 days
3 years

English Church, Tay St.

09/5592

21 July 1909

The Archdeacon Stocker

No	113
Date of Notice	21 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Chankey Woodward	Dorothea Cecil Tyner
BDM Match (88%)	John Chantrey Woodberd	Dorothea Cecil Vyner
	💍 1909/8004
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Gala St., Invercargill	Dee St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay St.
Folio	09/5592
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1909
Officiating Minister	The Archdeacon Stocker

114

21 July 1909

William Parr
Mary Welsh

William Davis
Mary Welsh
💍 1909/4219

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

44
26

Mataura Park, Invercargill
Gorge Road, Invercargill

10 years
12 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

09/5581

21 July 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	114
Date of Notice	21 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Parr	Mary Welsh
BDM Match (85%)	William Davis	Mary Welsh
	💍 1909/4219
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	44	26
Dwelling Place	Mataura Park, Invercargill	Gorge Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	09/5581
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 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).