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 023

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

749

11 August 1913

William Henry Anderson Tate
Margretta Myrthe John

William Henry Anderson Tate
Margretta Myrtle Johns
💍 1913/8952

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

27
19

Ashburton
Allenton

2 years
19 years

Methodist Church, 19 Will Street, Ashburton

13/8308

Flewellyn John, father of Minor

11 August 1913

Rev. J. Woollopeall

No	749
Date of Notice	11 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Anderson Tate	Margretta Myrthe John
BDM Match (95%)	William Henry Anderson Tate	Margretta Myrtle Johns
	💍 1913/8952
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Allenton
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, 19 Will Street, Ashburton
Folio	13/8308
Consent	Flewellyn John, father of Minor
Date of Certificate	11 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Woollopeall

750

16 August 1913

George Buckle
Margarett Harriett Turnbull

George Muckle
Margaret Harriett Turnbull
💍 1913/6008

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

58
25

Lorrcliffe
Dorie

18 months
6 years

Presbyterian Church, Rakaia

13/5716

16 August 1913

Rev. W. J. Todd

No	750
Date of Notice	16 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Buckle	Margarett Harriett Turnbull
BDM Match (94%)	George Muckle	Margaret Harriett Turnbull
	💍 1913/6008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	58	25
Dwelling Place	Lorrcliffe	Dorie
Length of Residence	18 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Rakaia
Folio	13/5716
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Todd

751

20 August 1913

James George Collins
Emma Beatrice Hunt

James George Collins
Emma Beatrice Hoont
💍 1913/6112

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

25
20

Ashburton
Ashburton

15 months
11 years

Residence of Mrs Agnes Hunt, Cook Street, Ashburton

13/5670

Peter Hunt, father

20 August 1913

Rev. James Burges

No	751
Date of Notice	20 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James George Collins	Emma Beatrice Hunt
BDM Match (95%)	James George Collins	Emma Beatrice Hoont
	💍 1913/6112
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	15 months	11 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Agnes Hunt, Cook Street, Ashburton
Folio	13/5670
Consent	Peter Hunt, father
Date of Certificate	20 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Burges

752

25 August 1913

Andrew Irving
Nellie Gibbs

Andrew Irving
Nellie Gibbs
💍 1913/5895

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

27
28

Hinds
Christchurch

2 years
3 months

Residence of Mr Ballenger, Christ Church, St Albans, 3 Innes Road, Christchurch

13/5604

25 August 1913

Rev. Robert Erwin B.A. B.D.

No	752
Date of Notice	25 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Irving	Nellie Gibbs
	💍 1913/5895
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Hinds	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Ballenger, Christ Church, St Albans, 3 Innes Road, Christchurch
Folio	13/5604
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Erwin B.A. B.D.

753

26 August 1913

John Hanrahan
Charlotte Monica Madden

John Joseph Hanrahan
Charlotte Monica Madden
💍 1913/6105

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

39
34

Dromore
Ashburton

25 years
34 years

Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton

13/5671

26 August 1913

Rev. J. J. Hanrahan

No	753
Date of Notice	26 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hanrahan	Charlotte Monica Madden
BDM Match (83%)	John Joseph Hanrahan	Charlotte Monica Madden
	💍 1913/6105
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	39	34
Dwelling Place	Dromore	Ashburton
Length of Residence	25 years	34 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton
Folio	13/5671
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Hanrahan

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).