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 044

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

4 February 1913

William John Calder
Maud Mary Harwood

William John Calder
Maud Mary Harwood
💍 1913/1951

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Machinist

22
28

Christchurch
Woolston

2 years
2 years

Congregational Church, Worcester St., Christchurch

13/1390

4 February 1913

Rev. I. Sargison

No	73
Date of Notice	4 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Calder	Maud Mary Harwood
	💍 1913/1951
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Machinist
Age	22	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Woolston
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Worcester St., Christchurch
Folio	13/1390
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Sargison

4 February 1913

Charles Wilson Cameron
Janel Mc. Fedries

Charles Wilson Cameron
Janet McFidries
💍 1913/1860

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Typiste

29
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
Life

St. Peter's Church, Ferry Rd., Christchurch

13/1373

4 February 1913

Rev J. Mc. Donald

No	74
Date of Notice	4 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Wilson Cameron	Janel Mc. Fedries
BDM Match (88%)	Charles Wilson Cameron	Janet McFidries
	💍 1913/1860
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Typiste
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Ferry Rd., Christchurch
Folio	13/1373
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Mc. Donald

4 February 1913

Hubert George Kench
Lilly Constance Tomlin

Hubert George Kench
Lilly Constance Tomlin
💍 1913/791

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

25
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
12 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/195

4 February 1913

Deputy Registrar

No	75
Date of Notice	4 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hubert George Kench	Lilly Constance Tomlin
	💍 1913/791
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	12 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/195
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

5 February 1913

George Campbell Little
Mina Ellis

George Campbell Little
Mina Ellis
💍 1913/792

Bachelor
Spinster

Instructor, Defence Dept.

28
18

Christchurch
Rangiora

4 days
Life

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/196

Elizabeth Ellis, Mother

5 February 1913

Deputy Registrar

No	76
Date of Notice	5 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Campbell Little	Mina Ellis
	💍 1913/792
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Instructor, Defence Dept.
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Rangiora
Length of Residence	4 days	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/196
Consent	Elizabeth Ellis, Mother
Date of Certificate	5 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

5 February 1913

Cowley Edward Clarke
Martha Tonkin

Cowley Edward Clarke
Martha Tonkin
💍 1913/1971

Widower
Widow

Carpet Layer

51
51

Sydenham
Sydenham

11 years
20 years

Gospel Mission Hall, Sydenham

13/1460

5 February 1913

Thos. D. R. Lanyon

No	77
Date of Notice	5 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cowley Edward Clarke	Martha Tonkin
	💍 1913/1971
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Carpet Layer
Age	51	51
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	11 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Gospel Mission Hall, Sydenham
Folio	13/1460
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Thos. D. R. Lanyon

5 February 1913

Ernest Lawrence Smith
Alice Margaret Ogilvie

Ernest Lawrence Smith
Alice Margaret Ogilvie
💍 1913/1976

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Florists Assistant

25
24

New Brighton
Sydenham

4 years
6 years

St. David's Church, Sydenham

13/1465

5 February 1913

Rev. C. Murray

No	78
Date of Notice	5 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Lawrence Smith	Alice Margaret Ogilvie
	💍 1913/1976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Florists Assistant
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	New Brighton	Sydenham
Length of Residence	4 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Church, Sydenham
Folio	13/1465
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

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).