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 404

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1908 Registrar A Maxwell

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

18 February 1908

Edwin Athfield
Daisy Major

Edwin Athfield
Daisy Major
💍 1909/6726

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
28

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

2 years
28 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

09/1497

18 February 1908

A Maxwell, Registrar of Marriages

No	90
Date of Notice	18 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Athfield	Daisy Major
	💍 1909/6726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	28
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	28 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	09/1497
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1908
Officiating Minister	A Maxwell, Registrar of Marriages

18 February 1908

Edward Ward
Alice Matilda Smith

Edward Ward
Alice Matilda Smith
💍 1909/7273

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Laundress

24
24

Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
24 years

In the house of Mr. John Hay, 103 Cumberland Street, Dunedin

09/1607

18 February 1908

E. O. Blamires

No	91
Date of Notice	18 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Ward	Alice Matilda Smith
	💍 1909/7273
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Laundress
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. John Hay, 103 Cumberland Street, Dunedin
Folio	09/1607
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1908
Officiating Minister	E. O. Blamires

19 February 1908

Neil Joseph Walls
Eveline Frances Murray

Neil Joseph Walls
Eveline Frances Mundy
💍 1909/4025

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver

27
30

Caversham
Caversham

3 days
5 years

In St. Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin

09/5361

19 February 1908

W. Howard

No	92
Date of Notice	19 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Neil Joseph Walls	Eveline Frances Murray
BDM Match (93%)	Neil Joseph Walls	Eveline Frances Mundy
	💍 1909/4025
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	In St. Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin
Folio	09/5361
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1908
Officiating Minister	W. Howard

19 February 1908

John Duggan
Isabella Jane Collett

John Duggan
Isabella Jane Collett
💍 1909/7203

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28
31

North East Valley
Caversham

28 years
3 years

In the house of Mr. B. Collett, Grosvenor Street, Caversham

09/1469

19 February 1908

J. Rands

No	93
Date of Notice	19 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Duggan	Isabella Jane Collett
	💍 1909/7203
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28	31
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	Caversham
Length of Residence	28 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. B. Collett, Grosvenor Street, Caversham
Folio	09/1469
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1908
Officiating Minister	J. Rands

19 February 1908

Thomas Forsyth
Edith Maud Child

Thomas Forsyth
Edith Maud Child
💍 1909/7282

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

27
23

North East Valley
South Dunedin

3 years
5 years

In St. Peter's Church, Caversham

09/1640

19 February 1908

B. M. King

No	94
Date of Notice	19 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Forsyth	Edith Maud Child
	💍 1909/7282
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In St. Peter's Church, Caversham
Folio	09/1640
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1908
Officiating Minister	B. M. King

22 February 1908

Harold Edward Jeffrey
Margaret Violet Arnott Wright

Harold Edward Jeffreys
Margaret Violet Arnott Wright
💍 1909/3107

Bachelor
Spinster

Medical Practitioner

32
26

Mornington
Caversham

3 days
26 years

In the First Church, Dunedin

09/3429

22 February 1908

M. Trobel

No	95
Date of Notice	22 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Edward Jeffrey	Margaret Violet Arnott Wright
BDM Match (98%)	Harold Edward Jeffreys	Margaret Violet Arnott Wright
	💍 1909/3107
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Medical Practitioner
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Caversham
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	In the First Church, Dunedin
Folio	09/3429
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1908
Officiating Minister	M. Trobel

22 February 1908

George Alfred Brookes
Margaret Hodson

George Alfred Brookes
Margaret Hodem
💍 1909/4026

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
21

Anderson's Bay
Dunedin

4 years
12 months

In the house of Mr. G. A. Brookes, Anderson's Bay

09/5362

22 February 1908

E. A. Axelson

No	96
Date of Notice	22 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alfred Brookes	Margaret Hodson
BDM Match (90%)	George Alfred Brookes	Margaret Hodem
	💍 1909/4026
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Anderson's Bay	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	12 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. G. A. Brookes, Anderson's Bay
Folio	09/5362
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1908
Officiating Minister	E. A. Axelson

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).