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 010

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 March 1909 Registrar William Winsbury White

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

359

16 February 1909

William Hosworthy
Lilian Kate Wright

William Nosworthy
Lilian Kate Wright
💍 1909/6675

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic duties

41
39

Wakare
Wuidermere

9 years
20 years

Church of England, Wuidermere

09/1347

16 February 1909

Rev. E. W. Blakiston

No	359
Date of Notice	16 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hosworthy	Lilian Kate Wright
BDM Match (97%)	William Nosworthy	Lilian Kate Wright
	💍 1909/6675
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	41	39
Dwelling Place	Wakare	Wuidermere
Length of Residence	9 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Wuidermere
Folio	09/1347
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. W. Blakiston

360

24 February 1909

Donald Francis Kirdy
Eileen Agnes Begg

Donald Francis Kirdy
Eileen Agnes Begg
💍 1909/6678

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

23
19

Allenton
Trevorton

22 years
8 years

Private Methodist Church, Ashburton

09/1375

Marion Roulston, mother of minor

24 February 1909

Rev. R. J. Liddell

No	360
Date of Notice	24 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Francis Kirdy	Eileen Agnes Begg
	💍 1909/6678
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Allenton	Trevorton
Length of Residence	22 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Private Methodist Church, Ashburton
Folio	09/1375
Consent	Marion Roulston, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	24 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Liddell

361

1 March 1909

William John Sparrow
Ellie Grace Stephenson

William John Sparrow
Ellie Grace Stephenson
💍 1909/2046

Bachelor
Spinster

Outfitter
Domestic duties

30
23

Ashburton
Ashburton

30 years
23 years

St. Stephen's Church, Ashburton

09/3002

1 March 1909

Rev. G. Whitehouse

No	361
Date of Notice	1 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Sparrow	Ellie Grace Stephenson
	💍 1909/2046
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Outfitter	Domestic duties
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	30 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephen's Church, Ashburton
Folio	09/3002
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Whitehouse

362

8 March 1909

Sydney Rickard
Elizabeth Chalmers Maxwell

Sydney Rickard
Elizabeth Chalmers Maxwell
💍 1909/6685

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
23

Hinds
Waihimomona

21 years
4 years

Presbyterian Church, Geraldine

09/1382

8 March 1909

Rev. A. B. Todd, B.A.

No	362
Date of Notice	8 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Rickard	Elizabeth Chalmers Maxwell
	💍 1909/6685
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Hinds	Waihimomona
Length of Residence	21 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Geraldine
Folio	09/1382
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Todd, B.A.

363

8 March 1909

James Smith Young
Alice Jane Watt

James Smith Young
Alice Jane Watt
💍 1909/7142

Bachelor
Spinster

Missionary
Domestic duties

42
36

Geraldine
Ashburton

3 days
4 years

Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

09/1403

8 March 1909

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	363
Date of Notice	8 March 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Smith Young	Alice Jane Watt
	💍 1909/7142
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Missionary	Domestic duties
Age	42	36
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	09/1403
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).