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 049

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

13 February 1913

Alfred Cornelius Dyer
Victoria May Helena Smith

Alfred Cornelius Dyer
Victoria May Helena Smith
💍 1913/1912

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29
24

Wooleton
Christchurch

20 years
Life

St. Marks Church, Opawa

13/1427

13 February 1913

Rev. H. Williams

No	97
Date of Notice	13 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Cornelius Dyer	Victoria May Helena Smith
	💍 1913/1912
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Wooleton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Marks Church, Opawa
Folio	13/1427
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

14 February 1913

Kenneth James Sinclair Murchison
Mary Roberta Park

Kenneth James Sinclair Murchison
Mary Roberta Park
💍 1913/2360

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

26
23

Merivale
Merivale

7 days
21 years

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

13/1903

14 February 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	98
Date of Notice	14 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth James Sinclair Murchison	Mary Roberta Park
	💍 1913/2360
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Merivale	Merivale
Length of Residence	7 days	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1903
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

14 February 1913

Arthur Wesley Monro
Thelma Baff Carver

Arthur Wesley Momsen
Tasma Baff Carver
💍 1913/784

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Accessories Salesman

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 weeks
2 weeks

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/189

14 February 1913

Deputy Registrar

No	99
Date of Notice	14 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Wesley Monro	Thelma Baff Carver
BDM Match (82%)	Arthur Wesley Momsen	Tasma Baff Carver
	💍 1913/784
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Accessories Salesman
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/189
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

100

14 February 1913

Francis Stephen Dunford
Fanny Eliza Mary Bowers

Francis Stephen Dunford
Fanny Eliza Mary Bowers
💍 1913/2408

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
18

Sydenham
Riccarton

3 years
Life

St. Peter's Church, Riccarton

13/1876

Mother

14 February 1913

Rev. H. J. York

No	100
Date of Notice	14 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Stephen Dunford	Fanny Eliza Mary Bowers
	💍 1913/2408
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Riccarton
Folio	13/1876
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	14 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. York

101

15 February 1913

Robert Braw
Elizabeth Scarlett

Robert Craw
Elizabeth Scarlett
💍 1913/2363

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Dressmaker

25
22

Papanui
Christchurch

Life
Life

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

13/1906

15 February 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	101
Date of Notice	15 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Braw	Elizabeth Scarlett
BDM Match (95%)	Robert Craw	Elizabeth Scarlett
	💍 1913/2363
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Dressmaker
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1906
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

102

15 February 1913

William Nicholls
Marian Gelmour

William Nicholls
Marian Gilmour
💍 1913/1823

Widower
Widow

Wool Broker

61
48

Belfast
St. Albans

36 years
2 years

Church of England, Halswell

13/153

15 February 1913

Rev. F. Dunnage

No	102
Date of Notice	15 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Nicholls	Marian Gelmour
BDM Match (96%)	William Nicholls	Marian Gilmour
	💍 1913/1823
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Wool Broker
Age	61	48
Dwelling Place	Belfast	St. Albans
Length of Residence	36 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Halswell
Folio	13/153
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Dunnage

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).