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 584

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1909 Registrar R. M. Ryburn

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

12 March 1909

Denis Gaynor
Mary Staunton

Denis Staunton
Mary Staunton
💍 1909/7342

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine fitter
Dressmaker

24
30

1 Leaders St., Invercargill
Kew, Invercargill

30 years

St. Mary's Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

09/1726

12 March 1909

Very Rev. Wm. Burke V.F.

No	32
Date of Notice	12 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Gaynor	Mary Staunton
BDM Match (82%)	Denis Staunton	Mary Staunton
	💍 1909/7342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine fitter	Dressmaker
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	1 Leaders St., Invercargill	Kew, Invercargill
Length of Residence	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/1726
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Wm. Burke V.F.

13 March 1909

Alexander Derbie
Eva Nellie Withington

Alexander Derbie
Eva Nellie Withington
💍 1909/7214

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

25
25

Earn St., Invercargill
25 Tramway Road, South Invercargill

25 years
25 years

Residence of Charles Thompson, Invercargill

09/1529

13 March 1909

Very Rev. J. A. Ryburn

No	33
Date of Notice	13 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Derbie	Eva Nellie Withington
	💍 1909/7214
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Earn St., Invercargill	25 Tramway Road, South Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Charles Thompson, Invercargill
Folio	09/1529
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. A. Ryburn

13 March 1909

Patrick Michael Kelly
Delia Trynes

Patrick Michael Kelly
Delia Hynes
💍 1909/7341

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

25
25

Next Plains, Invercargill
Next Plains, Invercargill

11 years
25 years

St. Mary's Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

09/1727

13 March 1909

Very Rev. Wm. Burke V.F.

No	34
Date of Notice	13 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Michael Kelly	Delia Trynes
BDM Match (92%)	Patrick Michael Kelly	Delia Hynes
	💍 1909/7341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Next Plains, Invercargill	Next Plains, Invercargill
Length of Residence	11 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/1727
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Wm. Burke V.F.

15 March 1909

Stephen Bowen
Jane Gilfillan

Stephen Bowers
Jane Gilfillan
💍 1909/7189

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

30
22

59 Elles Road, North Invercargill
59 Elles Road, North Invercargill

8 days
8 days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

09/1499

15 March 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	35
Date of Notice	15 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Bowen	Jane Gilfillan
BDM Match (93%)	Stephen Bowers	Jane Gilfillan
	💍 1909/7189
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	59 Elles Road, North Invercargill	59 Elles Road, North Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 days	8 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	09/1499
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

15 March 1909

Edward Charles Roberts
Ellen Pay
formerly Phillips

Edward Charles Roberts
Ellen Pay
💍 1909/7188

Widower
Divorced

Farmer
Domestic

55
44

Naimahia, Invercargill
Naimahia, Invercargill

3 years
8 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

09/1498

15 March 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	36
Date of Notice	15 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Charles Roberts	Ellen Pay formerly Phillips
	💍 1909/7188
Condition	Widower	Divorced
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	55	44
Dwelling Place	Naimahia, Invercargill	Naimahia, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	09/1498
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

19 March 1909

Henry Overton Stuckey
Fanny Carswell

Henry Overton Stuckey
Fanny Carswell
💍 1909/7249

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist
Household

32
27

Dee Street, Invercargill
Leit Street, Invercargill

3 days
27 years

Residence of Mr. Francis Carewell, Leet Street, Invercargill

09/1584

19 March 1909

Revd. R. M. Ryburn

No	37
Date of Notice	19 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Overton Stuckey	Fanny Carswell
	💍 1909/7249
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist	Household
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Leit Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Francis Carewell, Leet Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/1584
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Revd. R. M. Ryburn

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).