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 415

District of Dunedin 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

147

26 March 1909

John Boucher
Mabel Wildgoose

John Boucher
Mabel Wildgoose
💍 1909/7254

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman

27 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

12 years
8 years

In the home of Rev. Mr. Slade, Fernhill Street, Dunedin

09/1611

James Wildgoose, father

26 March 1909

E. O. Blamires

No	147
Date of Notice	26 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Boucher	Mabel Wildgoose
	💍 1909/7254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman
Age	27 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	12 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In the home of Rev. Mr. Slade, Fernhill Street, Dunedin
Folio	09/1611
Consent	James Wildgoose, father
Date of Certificate	26 March 1909
Officiating Minister	E. O. Blamires

148

27 March 1909

Sydney Henry Alton Wood
Mary Beatrice Ivimey

Sydney Henry Alton Wood
Mary Beatrice Ivimey
💍 1909/7344

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Clerk

25 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

25 years
5 years

In the Congregational Church, Moray Place, Dunedin

09/1928

27 March 1909

G. Heighway

No	148
Date of Notice	27 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Henry Alton Wood	Mary Beatrice Ivimey
	💍 1909/7344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Clerk
Age	25 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	25 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church, Moray Place, Dunedin
Folio	09/1928
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1909
Officiating Minister	G. Heighway

149

29 March 1909

Charles Stewart
Emma Monk

Charles Stewart
Emma Monk
💍 1909/7330

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Tailoress

32 years
17 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

22 years
10 years

In Knox Church, Dunedin

09/1714

Edward Monk, father

29 March 1909

Mr. Hewitson

No	149
Date of Notice	29 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Stewart	Emma Monk
	💍 1909/7330
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Tailoress
Age	32 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	22 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church, Dunedin
Folio	09/1714
Consent	Edward Monk, father
Date of Certificate	29 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Mr. Hewitson

150

29 March 1909

Jocelyn Gordon Towsey
Jane Adams Anderson

Jocelyn Gordon Jowsey
Jane Adams Anderson
💍 1909/7345

Bachelor
Spinster

Metal worker
Dressmaker

24 years
25 years

North East Valley
Dunedin

13 years
14 years

In the home of Mr. J. S. Anderson, 32 Duke Street, Dunedin

09/1729

29 March 1909

R. H. Mylio

No	150
Date of Notice	29 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jocelyn Gordon Towsey	Jane Adams Anderson
BDM Match (98%)	Jocelyn Gordon Jowsey	Jane Adams Anderson
	💍 1909/7345
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Metal worker	Dressmaker
Age	24 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	Dunedin
Length of Residence	13 years	14 years
Marriage Place	In the home of Mr. J. S. Anderson, 32 Duke Street, Dunedin
Folio	09/1729
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1909
Officiating Minister	R. H. Mylio

151

29 March 1909

Charles Stuart Mason
Lucy Mary Haines

Charles Stuart Mason
Lucy May Haines
💍 1909/6730

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

34 years
33 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

33 years
3 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

09/1501

29 March 1909

H. Maxwell

No	151
Date of Notice	29 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Stuart Mason	Lucy Mary Haines
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Stuart Mason	Lucy May Haines
	💍 1909/6730
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	34 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	33 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	09/1501
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1909
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

152

29 March 1909

Andrew Kiddie Hunter
Frances Katherine Simpson

Andrew Kiddie Hunter
Frances Katherine Simpson
💍 1909/7255

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Millhand

26 years
22 years

Caversham
Dunedin

26 years
10 years

In the house of Mrs. M. Hunter, 57 Maclaggan Street, Dunedin

09/1612

29 March 1909

Mr. Slade

No	152
Date of Notice	29 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Kiddie Hunter	Frances Katherine Simpson
	💍 1909/7255
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Millhand
Age	26 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Dunedin
Length of Residence	26 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. M. Hunter, 57 Maclaggan Street, Dunedin
Folio	09/1612
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Mr. Slade

153

30 March 1909

Lionel Eric Finch
Hilda Millicent Ford

Lionel Eric Finch
Hilda Millicent Ford
💍 1909/6772

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

24 years
23 years

Roslyn
Caversham

3 days
18 years

In the Presbyterian Church, Caversham

09/1684

30 March 1909

D. Dutton

No	153
Date of Notice	30 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lionel Eric Finch	Hilda Millicent Ford
	💍 1909/6772
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	24 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Caversham
Length of Residence	3 days	18 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, Caversham
Folio	09/1684
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1909
Officiating Minister	D. Dutton

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).