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 406

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

104

23 February 1909

John Miller Brown
Ruth Catherine Nightingale

John Miller Brown
Ruth Catherine Nightingale
💍 1909/7236

Bachelor
Divorced

Carter

32 years
35 years

Roslyn
West Harbour

2 years
2 years

In the house of W. J. Ho. Brown, 20 Gamma Street, Roslyn

09/1593

23 February 1909

W. J. Haste

No	104
Date of Notice	23 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Miller Brown	Ruth Catherine Nightingale
	💍 1909/7236
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Carter
Age	32 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	West Harbour
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of W. J. Ho. Brown, 20 Gamma Street, Roslyn
Folio	09/1593
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1909
Officiating Minister	W. J. Haste

105

26 February 1909

Frederick George Nind
Daisy Constance Brooks

Frederick George Nind
Daisy Constance Brooks
💍 1909/7283

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Tailoress

24 years
24 years

Caversham
South Dunedin

2 years
4 years

In St. Peter's Church, Caversham

09/1641

26 February 1909

B. M. Laing

No	105
Date of Notice	26 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick George Nind	Daisy Constance Brooks
	💍 1909/7283
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Tailoress
Age	24 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In St. Peter's Church, Caversham
Folio	09/1641
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1909
Officiating Minister	B. M. Laing

106

26 February 1909

Duncan Currie
Florence Houston

Duncan Currie
Florence Houston
💍 1909/72

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

30 years
28 years

Mornington
Mornington

3 Days
3 Days

In the house of W. R. B. Laidlaw, 28 Bath Street, Mornington

09/1545

26 February 1909

W. J. Houray

No	106
Date of Notice	26 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Currie	Florence Houston
	💍 1909/72
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	30 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 Days	3 Days
Marriage Place	In the house of W. R. B. Laidlaw, 28 Bath Street, Mornington
Folio	09/1545
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1909
Officiating Minister	W. J. Houray

107

27 February 1909

George Thomas Townsend
Annie Randell

George Thomas Townsend
Annie Randell
💍 1909/4027

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller

40 years
22 years

Mornington
Mornington

3 Days
20 years

In St. Mary's Church, Mornington

09/5363

27 February 1909

A. Neild

No	107
Date of Notice	27 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Thomas Townsend	Annie Randell
	💍 1909/4027
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller
Age	40 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 Days	20 years
Marriage Place	In St. Mary's Church, Mornington
Folio	09/5363
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1909
Officiating Minister	A. Neild

108

1 March 1909

William James Hill Riddell
Annie Graham

William James Hill Riddell
Annie Graham
💍 1909/7251

Bachelor
Spinster

Bagmaker
Machinist

26 years
29 years

Mornington
Caversham

1 year
11 months

In the Methodist Church, Wesley Street, South Dunedin

09/1586

1 March 1909

Wm. Mrigg

No	108
Date of Notice	1 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Hill Riddell	Annie Graham
	💍 1909/7251
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bagmaker	Machinist
Age	26 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Caversham
Length of Residence	1 year	11 months
Marriage Place	In the Methodist Church, Wesley Street, South Dunedin
Folio	09/1586
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Wm. Mrigg

109

1 March 1909

David Miller Mitchell
Agnes Hood Kirkland

David Miller Mitchell
Agnes Hood Kirkland
💍 1909/4028

Widower
Spinster

Labourer

34 years
33 years

Dunedin
Green Island

2 years
2 weeks

In the Presbyterian Manse, Green Island

09/5364

1 March 1909

J. Kilpatrick

No	109
Date of Notice	1 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Miller Mitchell	Agnes Hood Kirkland
	💍 1909/4028
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	34 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Green Island
Length of Residence	2 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Manse, Green Island
Folio	09/5364
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1909
Officiating Minister	J. Kilpatrick

110

3 March 1909

Basil Nelson
Helen Mc. Nair

Basil Melson
Helen McNair
💍 1909/7336

Bachelor
Spinster

Clergyman
Clerk

29 years
26 years

Dunedin
North East Valley

3 Days
10 years

In the Primitive Methodist Church, Dundas Street, Dunedin

09/1707

3 March 1909

Wm. Loaycock

No	110
Date of Notice	3 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Basil Nelson	Helen Mc. Nair
BDM Match (89%)	Basil Melson	Helen McNair
	💍 1909/7336
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clergyman	Clerk
Age	29 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	North East Valley
Length of Residence	3 Days	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Primitive Methodist Church, Dundas Street, Dunedin
Folio	09/1707
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Wm. Loaycock

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).