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 595

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 1909

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

9 June 1909

Bernard James Healey
Catherine Margaret Dolan

Bernard James Healey
Catherine Margaret Dolan
💍 1909/163

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
27

Liddel Street, Invercargill
Liddel Street, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

09/3593

9 June 1909

Very Rev. W. Burke V.F.

No	88
Date of Notice	9 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard James Healey	Catherine Margaret Dolan
	💍 1909/163
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Liddel Street, Invercargill	Liddel Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/3593
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke V.F.

9 June 1909

Charles Martin Friskin
Emma Mitchell

Charles Martin Frisken
Cassandra Mitchell
💍 1909/164

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger
Domestic

28
20

Spey Street, Invercargill
Spey Street, Invercargill

3 days
7 years

Residence of R. M. Ryburn, Tay Street, Invercargill

09/3594

9 June 1909

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	89
Date of Notice	9 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Martin Friskin	Emma Mitchell
BDM Match (76%)	Charles Martin Frisken	Cassandra Mitchell
	💍 1909/164
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger	Domestic
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Spey Street, Invercargill	Spey Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of R. M. Ryburn, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/3594
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

9 June 1909

Frances Alexander Osme
Mary Anne Hebbend

Francis Alexander Orme
Mary Anne Hebbend
💍 1909/4112

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
30

Elles Road, E. Invercargill
Elles Road, E. Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Residence of George Ladbrook, Elles Road, E. Invercargill

09/5209

9 June 1909

Mr. W. D. Little

No	90
Date of Notice	9 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frances Alexander Osme	Mary Anne Hebbend
BDM Match (95%)	Francis Alexander Orme	Mary Anne Hebbend
	💍 1909/4112
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Elles Road, E. Invercargill	Elles Road, E. Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of George Ladbrook, Elles Road, E. Invercargill
Folio	09/5209
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Mr. W. D. Little

10 June 1909

John Young
Jane Catherine Reid

John Young
Jane Catherine Reid
💍 1909/165

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic

40
37

Conon Street, Invercargill
Rigger Street, Invercargill

28 years
30 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, South Invercargill

09/3595

10 June 1909

Rev. J. A. Prybes

No	91
Date of Notice	10 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Young	Jane Catherine Reid
	💍 1909/165
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic
Age	40	37
Dwelling Place	Conon Street, Invercargill	Rigger Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	28 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, South Invercargill
Folio	09/3595
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Prybes

12 June 1909

John Alfred Brockett
Annie Blackham

John Alfred Crockett
Annie Blackham
💍 1909/2530

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant
Domestic

29
30

Tyne Street
Dee Street

20 years
30 years

White Swan Hotel

09/3565

12 June 1909

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	92
Date of Notice	12 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alfred Brockett	Annie Blackham
BDM Match (98%)	John Alfred Crockett	Annie Blackham
	💍 1909/2530
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant	Domestic
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Tyne Street	Dee Street
Length of Residence	20 years	30 years
Marriage Place	White Swan Hotel
Folio	09/3565
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

15 June 1909

Lionel Leonard Padget
Eva Josephine Brown

Lionel Leonard Pedget
Eva Josephine Brett
💍 1909/2532

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Domestic

26
23

Esk Street
Tweed Street

12 years
23 years

English Church, Tay Street

09/3566

15 June 1909

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	93
Date of Notice	15 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lionel Leonard Padget	Eva Josephine Brown
BDM Match (90%)	Lionel Leonard Pedget	Eva Josephine Brett
	💍 1909/2532
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Domestic
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Esk Street	Tweed Street
Length of Residence	12 years	23 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street
Folio	09/3566
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).