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 593

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

10 May 1909

John Arthurd
Mary Constance Pollock Holmes

John Arthur
Mary Constance Pollock Holmes
💍 1909/7700

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist
Domestic

29
28

Ettick Street, Invercargill
Leet Street, Invercargill

10 years
28 years

Residence of Sabina Holmes, Leet Street, Invercargill

09/3586

10 May 1909

Rev. J. A. Ryburn

No	76
Date of Notice	10 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Arthurd	Mary Constance Pollock Holmes
BDM Match (96%)	John Arthur	Mary Constance Pollock Holmes
	💍 1909/7700
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist	Domestic
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Ettick Street, Invercargill	Leet Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Sabina Holmes, Leet Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/3586
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Ryburn

18 May 1909

James Francis Norman
Charlotte Maud Ling

James Francis Norman
Charlotte Maud Ling
💍 1909/156

Bachelor
Spinster

Flax dresser
Domestic

25
21

Tiviot Street, Invercargill
Tiviot Street, Invercargill

3 days
17 months

Presbyterian Church (St. Andrews)

09/3587

18 May 1909

Mr. Matthew McLean

No	77
Date of Notice	18 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Francis Norman	Charlotte Maud Ling
	💍 1909/156
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flax dresser	Domestic
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Tiviot Street, Invercargill	Tiviot Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	17 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church (St. Andrews)
Folio	09/3587
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Mr. Matthew McLean

18 May 1909

John Stevens Timpany
Mary Ethel Timpany

John Stevens
Mary Ethel Timpany
💍 1909/2359

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Domestic

27
22

Timaru
Dee Street, Invercargill

7 years
7 weeks

Residence of Thomas Simon, Timaru

09/3588

18 May 1909

Rev. Thomas Simon

No	78
Date of Notice	18 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stevens Timpany	Mary Ethel Timpany
BDM Match (80%)	John Stevens	Mary Ethel Timpany
	💍 1909/2359
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Domestic
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	7 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas Simon, Timaru
Folio	09/3588
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Simon

19 May 1909

Frederick George Peterson
Margaret Allen Giffen

Frederick George Peterson
Margaret Allen Giffen
💍 1909/158

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
19

Richmond Grove, Invercargill
Inglewood, Invercargill

15 years
15 years

Residence of Julia Grace Giffen, Inglewood, Invercargill

09/3589

Julia Grace Giffen, Mother

19 May 1909

Rev. William Haycock

No	79
Date of Notice	19 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick George Peterson	Margaret Allen Giffen
	💍 1909/158
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Richmond Grove, Invercargill	Inglewood, Invercargill
Length of Residence	15 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Julia Grace Giffen, Inglewood, Invercargill
Folio	09/3589
Consent	Julia Grace Giffen, Mother
Date of Certificate	19 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Haycock

19 May 1909

William Graham Sutherland
Susie Robena Reid

William Graham Sutherland
Susie Robina Reid
💍 1909/157

Bachelor
Spinster

Yardman
Dressmaker

33
24

Grey Street, Invercargill
Liddel Street, Invercargill

12 months
7 years

Residence of John Woodburn Reid

09/3588

19 May 1909

Rev. A. M. Ryburn

No	80
Date of Notice	19 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Graham Sutherland	Susie Robena Reid
BDM Match (97%)	William Graham Sutherland	Susie Robina Reid
	💍 1909/157
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Yardman	Dressmaker
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Grey Street, Invercargill	Liddel Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	12 months	7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Woodburn Reid
Folio	09/3588
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. M. Ryburn

24 May 1909

Herbert Helm Harris
Mary Elizabeth Harris

Herbert Helm
Mary Elizabeth Harris
💍 1909/2528

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Domestic

24
19

Clyde Street, Invercargill
Tweed Street, Invercargill

4 days
6 months

Victoria Home, Corner of Tweed Street, Invercargill

09/3568

George Harris, Father

24 May 1909

Per Archdeacon Stocker

No	81
Date of Notice	24 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Helm Harris	Mary Elizabeth Harris
BDM Match (82%)	Herbert Helm	Mary Elizabeth Harris
	💍 1909/2528
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Domestic
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, Invercargill	Tweed Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Victoria Home, Corner of Tweed Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/3568
Consent	George Harris, Father
Date of Certificate	24 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Per Archdeacon Stocker

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).