Intentions to Marry, 1913 Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840453, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1913 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1913a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1913b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1913c).

Page 017

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 June 1913 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

924

21 May 1913

Arthur Kircher
Amelia Alice Spray

Reginald Arthur Kircher
Amelia Alice Spray
💍 1913/4121

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic duties

20
22

Inverald
Methven

3 days
3 days

St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

13/374

Henry Williams, father of minor

21 May 1913

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	924
Date of Notice	21 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Kircher	Amelia Alice Spray
BDM Match (80%)	Reginald Arthur Kircher	Amelia Alice Spray
	💍 1913/4121
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic duties
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	Inverald	Methven
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	13/374
Consent	Henry Williams, father of minor
Date of Certificate	21 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

925

21 May 1913

William Francis Halliburton
Susan Webb

William Francis Halliburton
Susan Webb
💍 1913/4227

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

25
23

Ashburton
Leithfield

5 years
3 years

St Paul's Church of England, Amberley

13/375

21 May 1913

Rev. H. E. East

No	925
Date of Notice	21 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Francis Halliburton	Susan Webb
	💍 1913/4227
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Leithfield
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church of England, Amberley
Folio	13/375
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. East

926

23 May 1913

Francis Peter Blackwood
Frances Mildred Riseley

Francis Peter Blackwood
Frances Mildred Riseley
💍 1913/4530

Bachelor
Spinster

Drapers Assistant
Domestic duties

29
16

Hampstead
Ashburton

3 months
6 weeks

Baring Square Church, Ashburton

13/418

Thomas Riseley, father of minor

23 May 1913

Rev. W. J. Elliott

No	926
Date of Notice	23 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Peter Blackwood	Frances Mildred Riseley
	💍 1913/4530
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drapers Assistant	Domestic duties
Age	29	16
Dwelling Place	Hampstead	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 months	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Baring Square Church, Ashburton
Folio	13/418
Consent	Thomas Riseley, father of minor
Date of Certificate	23 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Elliott

927

24 May 1913

Arthur Henry Field
Nora Simpson

Arthur Henry Field
Nora Simpson
💍 1913/4531

Divorced
Spinster

Merchant
Domestic duties

49
28

Ashburton
Simpson, Grey Street, Ashburton

32 years
28 years

at the dwelling of her

13/4159

24 May 1913

Rev. W. J. Elliott

No	927
Date of Notice	24 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Henry Field	Nora Simpson
	💍 1913/4531
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Merchant	Domestic duties
Age	49	28
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Simpson, Grey Street, Ashburton
Length of Residence	32 years	28 years
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of her
Folio	13/4159
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Elliott

928

24 May 1913

Frank Halley
Sarah Ann Simmonds

Frank Walley
Sarah Ann Simmonds
💍 1913/6818

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

34
30

Allenton
Allenton

10 years
30 years

St Stephens Church of England, Ashburton

13/6255

24 May 1913

Rev. J. R. Burgin

No	928
Date of Notice	24 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Halley	Sarah Ann Simmonds
BDM Match (96%)	Frank Walley	Sarah Ann Simmonds
	💍 1913/6818
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Allenton	Allenton
Length of Residence	10 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	13/6255
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Burgin

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).