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 051

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

109

19 February '.1913.'

Griff George Roberts
Sarah Ann Roberts

Griff George Roberts
Sarah Ann Roberts
💍 1913/803

Bachelor
Widow

Engineer

69
74

Addington
Addington

14 years
11 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

'.13.'/184

19 February '.1913.'

Registrar

No	109
Date of Notice	19 February '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Griff George Roberts	Sarah Ann Roberts
	💍 1913/803
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Engineer
Age	69	74
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	14 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	'.13.'/184
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Registrar

110

19 February '.1913.'

William Douglas Smith
Annie Smith

William Douglas
Annie Smith
💍 1913/780

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
21

Christchurch
Spreydon

Life
5 years

Office of Registrar Christchurch

'.13.'/185

19 February '.1913.'

Registrar

No	110
Date of Notice	19 February '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Douglas Smith	Annie Smith
BDM Match (86%)	William Douglas	Annie Smith
	💍 1913/780
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Spreydon
Length of Residence	Life	5 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar Christchurch
Folio	'.13.'/185
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Registrar

111

19 February '.1913.'

Albert Edward Huggins
Lily May Dyer

Albert Edward Higgins
Lily May Dyer
💍 1913/1828

Bachelor
Spinster

Conductor
Tailoress

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 1/2 years
Life

House of M.A.E. Huggins, 27 Heywood St, Richmond

'.13.'/134

19 February '.1913.'

Rev. R. Erwin

No	111
Date of Notice	19 February '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Huggins	Lily May Dyer
BDM Match (98%)	Albert Edward Higgins	Lily May Dyer
	💍 1913/1828
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Conductor	Tailoress
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 1/2 years	Life
Marriage Place	House of M.A.E. Huggins, 27 Heywood St, Richmond
Folio	'.13.'/134
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin

112

19 February '.1913.'

Joseph McMillan
May Sutton

Joseph McMillan
May Sutton
💍 1913/328

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer
Fruiterer

26
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
3 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

'.13.'/210

19 February '.1913.'

Registrar

No	112
Date of Notice	19 February '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph McMillan	May Sutton
	💍 1913/328
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer	Fruiterer
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	'.13.'/210
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Registrar

113

19 February '.1913.'

Robert Henry Monnee
Margaret Wall

Robert Henry Mounce
Margaret Wall
💍 1913/1965

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Hand

24
20

Springston
Springston

Life
Life

Methodist Church Springston

'.13.'/1380

Robert Wall, Father

19 February '.1913.'

Rev. C. E. Penny

No	113
Date of Notice	19 February '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Monnee	Margaret Wall
BDM Match (95%)	Robert Henry Mounce	Margaret Wall
	💍 1913/1965
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Hand
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Springston	Springston
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Springston
Folio	'.13.'/1380
Consent	Robert Wall, Father
Date of Certificate	19 February '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Penny

114

19 February '.1913.'

Albert Counsel
Agnes Darling

Albert Counsel
Agnes Darling
💍 1913/781

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Driver
Machinist

25
26

Linwood
Christchurch

11 years
Life

Registrar's Office Christchurch

'.13.'/186

19 February '.1913.'

Registrar

No	114
Date of Notice	19 February '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Counsel	Agnes Darling
	💍 1913/781
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Driver	Machinist
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	'.13.'/186
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).