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 027

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 December 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

767

20 October 1913

Horace James Constable
Mary Ann Rattray

Horace James Constable
Mary Ann Rattray
💍 1913/8699

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist
Tailoress

25
30

Ashburton
Hampstead

15 Months
30 years

Baring Square Church, Ashburton

8543

20 October 1913

Rev. W. J. Elliott

No	767
Date of Notice	20 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace James Constable	Mary Ann Rattray
	💍 1913/8699
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist	Tailoress
Age	25	30
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Hampstead
Length of Residence	15 Months	30 years
Marriage Place	Baring Square Church, Ashburton
Folio	8543
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Elliott

768

29 October 1913

William Alexander Grumitt
Isabel Margaret Thomas

William Alexander Grumitt
Margaret Isabel Thomas
💍 1913/9046

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Official
domestic duties

39
30

Hastings
Tinwald

3 days
30 years

St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton

8748

29 October 1913

Rev. J. R. Burgin

No	768
Date of Notice	29 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alexander Grumitt	Isabel Margaret Thomas
BDM Match (73%)	William Alexander Grumitt	Margaret Isabel Thomas
	💍 1913/9046
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Official	domestic duties
Age	39	30
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Tinwald
Length of Residence	3 days	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	8748
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Burgin

769

29 October 1913

James Thomas Wetherall
Lilian May Bushell

James Thomas Wetherall
Lilian May Bushell
💍 1913/9045

Bachelor
Spinster

Malster
domestic duties

33
25

Heathcote Valley
Ashburton

2 years
2 years

St. Stephens Church of Christ, England Church, Ashburton

8747

29 October 1913

Rev. J. R. Burgin

No	769
Date of Notice	29 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas Wetherall	Lilian May Bushell
	💍 1913/9045
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Malster	domestic duties
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Heathcote Valley	Ashburton
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church of Christ, England Church, Ashburton
Folio	8747
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Burgin

770

3 November 1913

William James Skilling
Jane Ellison Miller

William James Skilling
Jane Ellison Miller
💍 1913/8108

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

23
23

Tinwald
Tinwald

23 years
5 years

At the dwelling of W. J. Skilling

7899

3 November 1913

Rev. J. C. Will

No	770
Date of Notice	3 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Skilling	Jane Ellison Miller
	💍 1913/8108
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Tinwald	Tinwald
Length of Residence	23 years	5 years
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of W. J. Skilling
Folio	7899
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Will

771

5 November 1913

Walter Harrison
Edith Emily Joyce

Walter Harrison
Edith Emily Joyce
💍 1913/9119

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger
domestic duties

34
29

Masterton
Trevorton

3 days
29 years

At the dwelling of Valentine Joyce, Trevorton

8797

5 November 1913

Rev. J. Woollospall

No	771
Date of Notice	5 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Harrison	Edith Emily Joyce
	💍 1913/9119
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger	domestic duties
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Trevorton
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of Valentine Joyce, Trevorton
Folio	8797
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Woollospall

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).