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 580

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 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

16 January 1909

Charles Buchanan Snow
Ellen Mary Moffett
formerly Cook

Charles Buchanan Snow
Ellen Mary Moffett
💍 1909/7286

Bachelor
Divorced

Medical Practitioner
Domestic duties

35
34

Spey Street, Invercargill
Leask Street, Invercargill

4 years
5 years

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

09/1644

16 January 1909

Rev. Archdeacon Stocker

No	7
Date of Notice	16 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Buchanan Snow	Ellen Mary Moffett formerly Cook
	💍 1909/7286
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Medical Practitioner	Domestic duties
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Spey Street, Invercargill	Leask Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/1644
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archdeacon Stocker

22 January 1909

Alexander Strang
Emily Elizabeth Dyer

Alexander Strang
Emily Elizabeth Dyer
💍 1909/6764

Bachelor
Spinster

Upholsterer
Domestic

30
23

Leask Street, Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

30 years
20 years

Residence of Frederick Dyer, Gladstone

09/1699

22 January 1909

Rev. James Cumming

No	8
Date of Notice	22 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Strang	Emily Elizabeth Dyer
	💍 1909/6764
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Upholsterer	Domestic
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Leask Street, Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	30 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Frederick Dyer, Gladstone
Folio	09/1699
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Cumming

23 January 1909

Francis Hallael Dunlop
Maud Ellen Spinks

Francis Wallace Dunlop
Maud Giller
💍 1909/6789

Bachelor
Spinster

Presbyterian Minister
Nurse

33
27

Earn Street, Invercargill
Herbert Street, Gladstone, Invercargill

5 years
18 months

Residence of Mrs. Gillespie, Herbert Street, Gladstone

09/1539

23 January 1909

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	9
Date of Notice	23 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Hallael Dunlop	Maud Ellen Spinks
BDM Match (64%)	Francis Wallace Dunlop	Maud Giller
	💍 1909/6789
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Presbyterian Minister	Nurse
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Earn Street, Invercargill	Herbert Street, Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Gillespie, Herbert Street, Gladstone
Folio	09/1539
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Lindsay

29 January 1909

George Albert Gilchrist
Bertha Kinney Spinks

George Albert Gilchrist
Bertha Wesney
💍 1909/4014

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Household

26
22

Don Street, Invercargill
Don Street, Invercargill

8 years
22 years

Presbyterian Church, Leet Street, Invercargill

09/5374

29 January 1909

Rev. A. Mitchell

No	10
Date of Notice	29 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Albert Gilchrist	Bertha Kinney Spinks
BDM Match (75%)	George Albert Gilchrist	Bertha Wesney
	💍 1909/4014
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Household
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Don Street, Invercargill	Don Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Leet Street, Invercargill
Folio	09/5374
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mitchell

2 February 1909

Frederick Thomas Pay
Annie Florence Pattison

Frederick Thomas Pay
Florence Mary Annie Pattinson
💍 1909/7168

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

24
20

Leet Street, Invercargill
Dee Road, North Invercargill

24 years
20 years

Residence of R. B. Raine, Spey Street

09/1430

Mrs. Pattison, mother

2 February 1909

Rev. K. Raine

No	11
Date of Notice	2 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Thomas Pay	Annie Florence Pattison
BDM Match (74%)	Frederick Thomas Pay	Florence Mary Annie Pattinson
	💍 1909/7168
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Leet Street, Invercargill	Dee Road, North Invercargill
Length of Residence	24 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of R. B. Raine, Spey Street
Folio	09/1430
Consent	Mrs. Pattison, mother
Date of Certificate	2 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. K. Raine

3 February 1909

Samuel Theodore Jackson
Ella von Tunzelmann Spinks

Samuel Theodore Jackson
Ella Von Tunzelmann
💍 1909/6790

Widower
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

40
26

Ann Street, North Invercargill
Ann Street, North Invercargill

6 years
26 years

Residence of Samuel Theodore Jackson, Ann Street, North Invercargill

09/1557

3 February 1909

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	12
Date of Notice	3 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Theodore Jackson	Ella von Tunzelmann Spinks
BDM Match (85%)	Samuel Theodore Jackson	Ella Von Tunzelmann
	💍 1909/6790
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	40	26
Dwelling Place	Ann Street, North Invercargill	Ann Street, North Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Samuel Theodore Jackson, Ann Street, North Invercargill
Folio	09/1557
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Lindsay

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).