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 591

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

17 April 1909

William John Michie
Annie Jane Murray

William John Michie
Annie Jane Murray
💍 1909/151

Bachelor
Spinster

Metaphysician
Housekeeper

28
32

Forth Street, Invercargill
Forth Street, Invercargill

28 years
28 years

Residence of Rev. Frank Hales, Jed Street, Invercargill

09/3581

17 April 1909

Rev. Frank Hales

No	64
Date of Notice	17 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Michie	Annie Jane Murray
	💍 1909/151
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Metaphysician	Housekeeper
Age	28	32
Dwelling Place	Forth Street, Invercargill	Forth Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	28 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. Frank Hales, Jed Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/3581
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Frank Hales

19 April 1909

George Frederick Dawson
Mary Ann Crowley

George Frederick Dawson
Mary Ann Crowley
💍 1909/6323

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter
Domestic

20
25

Eye Street, Invercargill
Conon Street, Invercargill

25 days
25 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

09/7799

19 April 1909

Very Rev. L. Burke V.F.

No	65
Date of Notice	19 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frederick Dawson	Mary Ann Crowley
	💍 1909/6323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter	Domestic
Age	20	25
Dwelling Place	Eye Street, Invercargill	Conon Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/7799
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. L. Burke V.F.

19 April 1909

William Baird Road
Margaret Ellen Traynor

William Baird
Margaret Ellen Traynor
💍 1909/2464

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic

22
26

East, Invercargill
Wyndham, Southland

22 years
26 years

Roman Catholic Church, Wyndham

09/3696

19 April 1909

Rev. J. F. O'Donnell

No	66
Date of Notice	19 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Baird Road	Margaret Ellen Traynor
BDM Match (86%)	William Baird	Margaret Ellen Traynor
	💍 1909/2464
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic
Age	22	26
Dwelling Place	East, Invercargill	Wyndham, Southland
Length of Residence	22 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Wyndham
Folio	09/3696
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. O'Donnell

20 April 1909

Robert George Lamond
Emily Jane Knife

Robert George Lamond
Emily Jane Knipe
💍 1909/152

Bachelor
Spinster

Salvation Army Officer
Salvation Army Officer

26
28

Clifton, Invercargill
Clifton, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Salvation Army Barracks, Tay Street, Invercargill

09/3582

20 April 1909

Brigadier J. E. Allinton

No	67
Date of Notice	20 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert George Lamond	Emily Jane Knife
BDM Match (97%)	Robert George Lamond	Emily Jane Knipe
	💍 1909/152
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salvation Army Officer	Salvation Army Officer
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Clifton, Invercargill	Clifton, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barracks, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/3582
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Brigadier J. E. Allinton

20 April 1909

John Yeo
Ruth Stephenson

John Yeo
Ruth Stephenson
💍 1909/2527

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Keeper
Domestic

22
22

McMaster Street, East Invercargill
Clyde Street, Invercargill

22 years
2 years

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

09/3562

21 April 1909

Ven. Archdeacon H. Stocker

No	68
Date of Notice	20 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Yeo	Ruth Stephenson
	💍 1909/2527
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Keeper	Domestic
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	McMaster Street, East Invercargill	Clyde Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	2 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/3562
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon H. Stocker

24 April 1909

Michael John McDermott
Ethel May Ward

Michael John McDermott
Ethel Mary Ward
💍 1909/6330

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

26
18

Otatara, Invercargill
Otatara, Invercargill

18 months
1 year

Residence of Michael Thomas Ward, Otatara

09/7800

Michael Thomas Ward, father

24 April 1909

Rev. J. Lynch

No	69
Date of Notice	24 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael John McDermott	Ethel May Ward
BDM Match (97%)	Michael John McDermott	Ethel Mary Ward
	💍 1909/6330
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Otatara, Invercargill	Otatara, Invercargill
Length of Residence	18 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Michael Thomas Ward, Otatara
Folio	09/7800
Consent	Michael Thomas Ward, father
Date of Certificate	24 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Lynch

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).