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 040

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar Frank Evans

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

24 January 1913

Andrew Christie Finnie
Ethel Floriana Briggs

Andrew Christie Finnie
Ethel Gloriana Briggs
💍 1913/1966

Bachelor
Spinster

General Labourer

21
19

Sydenham
Shirley

3 months
Life

Anglican Church, Burwood

13/1381

Elizabeth Briggs, mother

24 January 1913

Rev. C. H. Tobin

No	49
Date of Notice	24 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Christie Finnie	Ethel Floriana Briggs
BDM Match (98%)	Andrew Christie Finnie	Ethel Gloriana Briggs
	💍 1913/1966
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	General Labourer
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Shirley
Length of Residence	3 months	Life
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Burwood
Folio	13/1381
Consent	Elizabeth Briggs, mother
Date of Certificate	24 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Tobin

24 January 1913

John William Betcliff
Harriet Clifford

John William Biltcliff
Harriett Clifford
💍 1913/1834

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

31
32

Sydenham
Christchurch

Life
Life

Anglican Church, Phillipstown

13/1347

24 January 1913

Rev. H. R. Ensor

No	50
Date of Notice	24 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Betcliff	Harriet Clifford
BDM Match (93%)	John William Biltcliff	Harriett Clifford
	💍 1913/1834
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Phillipstown
Folio	13/1347
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. R. Ensor

25 January 1913

John Colgan
Nellie O'Connor

John Colgan
Nellie O'Connor
💍 1913/2531

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

45
27

Papanui
Marshland

3 years
6 years

St. Mary's Catholic Church, Manchester St. Christchurch

13/2099

25 January 1913

Rev. F. Hills

No	51
Date of Notice	25 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Colgan	Nellie O'Connor
	💍 1913/2531
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	45	27
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Marshland
Length of Residence	3 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Catholic Church, Manchester St. Christchurch
Folio	13/2099
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Hills

27 January 1913

Thomas McKenzie
Ada Ann Bruorton

Thomas McKenzie
Ada Ann Bricorton
💍 1913/4849

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Waitress

27
25

Addington
Christchurch

7 years
3 years

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

13/4425

27 January 1913

Rev. O. Fitzgerald

No	52
Date of Notice	27 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas McKenzie	Ada Ann Bruorton
BDM Match (94%)	Thomas McKenzie	Ada Ann Bricorton
	💍 1913/4849
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Waitress
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Addington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	13/4425
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald

27 January 1913

Ronald Smith Badger
Sylvia Winifred Eames

Ronald Smith Badger
Sylvia Winifred Eames
💍 1913/1862

Bachelor
Spinster

Advertising Agent

33
20

Linwood
St. Albans

32 years
Life

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans

13/1352

Augustus Webber Eames, Father

27 January 1913

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	53
Date of Notice	27 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ronald Smith Badger	Sylvia Winifred Eames
	💍 1913/1862
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Advertising Agent
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Linwood	St. Albans
Length of Residence	32 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans
Folio	13/1352
Consent	Augustus Webber Eames, Father
Date of Certificate	27 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

28 January 1913

Robert Lambert Rickerby
Grace Orton Blatchford

Robert Lambert Rickerby
Grace Orton Blatchford
💍 1913/1824

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

25
31

Halswell
Spreydon

Life
7 years

St. Martin's Church, Spreydon

13/1338

28 January 1913

Rev. F. Dummage

No	54
Date of Notice	28 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Lambert Rickerby	Grace Orton Blatchford
	💍 1913/1824
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	25	31
Dwelling Place	Halswell	Spreydon
Length of Residence	Life	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Martin's Church, Spreydon
Folio	13/1338
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Dummage

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).