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 021

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 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

738

3 July 1913

James Thomas Smith
Edith May Stewart

James Thomas Smith
Edith May Stewart
💍 1913/6114

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
domestic duties

55
28

Ashburton
Ashburton

25 years
28 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton

13/5674

3 July 1913

Rev. H. B. Inglis

No	738
Date of Notice	3 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas Smith	Edith May Stewart
	💍 1913/6114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	domestic duties
Age	55	28
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	25 years	28 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton
Folio	13/5674
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Inglis

739

9 July 1913

Albert Victor Fairey
Violet Mabel Bland

Albert Victor Fairey
Violet Mabel Bland
💍 1913/6811

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
domestic duties

29
29

Springburn
Winchmore

29 years
29 years

St Stephens Church of England Ashburton

13/6249

9 July 1913

Rev. J. R. Bungin

No	739
Date of Notice	9 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Victor Fairey	Violet Mabel Bland
	💍 1913/6811
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	domestic duties
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Springburn	Winchmore
Length of Residence	29 years	29 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church of England Ashburton
Folio	13/6249
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Bungin

740

15 July 1913

Leonard George Childs
Ellen Reid

Leonard George Childs
Ellen Reid
💍 1913/5172

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheel-wright
domestic duties

23
20

Ashburton
Tinwald

23 years
20 years

Office of the Registrar Ashburton

13/4804

Deborah Wothert of Ashburton, mother of minor

15 July 1913

W. W. White Registrar

No	740
Date of Notice	15 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard George Childs	Ellen Reid
	💍 1913/5172
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheel-wright	domestic duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Tinwald
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar Ashburton
Folio	13/4804
Consent	Deborah Wothert of Ashburton, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	15 July 1913
Officiating Minister	W. W. White Registrar

741

16 July 1913

Robert Samuel Stock
Alice Lucinda Patching

Robert Samuel Stock
Alice Lucinda Patching
💍 1913/6812

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
domestic duties

30
31

Ashburton
Ashburton

18 years
31 years

St Stephens Church of England Ashburton

13/6250

16 July 1913

Rev. J. R. Burgin

No	741
Date of Notice	16 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Samuel Stock	Alice Lucinda Patching
	💍 1913/6812
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	domestic duties
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	18 years	31 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church of England Ashburton
Folio	13/6250
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Burgin

742

17 July 1913

Charles He Gassie Fittock
Maud Ethel Lusk

Charles Le Gassic Fittock
Maud Ethel Lusk
💍 1913/6118

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

27
24

Bushside
Tinwald

3 days
3 months

Church of England Tinwald

13/5678

17 July 1913

Rev. B. G. Fose

No	742
Date of Notice	17 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles He Gassie Fittock	Maud Ethel Lusk
BDM Match (96%)	Charles Le Gassic Fittock	Maud Ethel Lusk
	💍 1913/6118
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Bushside	Tinwald
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Church of England Tinwald
Folio	13/5678
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. G. Fose

743

19 July 1913

George Parrish
Emma Squires

George Parrish
Emma Squires
💍 1913/5173

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

35
26

Willowby
Ouihi

6 years
6 months

Office of the Registrar Ashburton

13/4805

19 July 1913

W. W. White Registrar

No	743
Date of Notice	19 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Parrish	Emma Squires
	💍 1913/5173
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	35	26
Dwelling Place	Willowby	Ouihi
Length of Residence	6 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar Ashburton
Folio	13/4805
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1913
Officiating Minister	W. W. White Registrar

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).