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 062

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

169

10 March 1913

Charles Harris
Anna Lean

Charles Harris
Anna Lean Belinda Randall
💍 1913/768

Bachelor
Widow (May 1912)

Labourer
Boardinghouse Keeper

49
51

Christchurch
Christchurch

30 years
34 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/172

10 March 1913

Registrar

No	169
Date of Notice	10 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Harris	Anna Lean
BDM Match (68%)	Charles Harris	Anna Lean Belinda Randall
	💍 1913/768
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (May 1912)
Profession	Labourer	Boardinghouse Keeper
Age	49	51
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 years	34 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/172
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

170

11 March 1913

William McHutcheson Shirriffs
Lucy Anna Morley

William McHutcheson Shirriffs
Lucy Anne Morley
💍 1913/1725

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

36
34

Wellington
Christchurch

1 week
6 years

St. John's Church, Wellington

13/1213

11 March 1913

Rev. J. Gibb

No	170
Date of Notice	11 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McHutcheson Shirriffs	Lucy Anna Morley
BDM Match (97%)	William McHutcheson Shirriffs	Lucy Anne Morley
	💍 1913/1725
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	34
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	6 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Wellington
Folio	13/1213
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibb

171

11 March 1913

Thomas Burt
Eva Louisa Thomas

Thomas Burt
Eva Louisa Thomas
💍 1913/1987

Bachelor
Spinster

Brushmaker
Household duties

31
24

Sydenham
Sydenham

16 years
Life

House of Mrs. Thomas, 116 King Street, Sydenham

13/1452

11 March 1913

Rev. T. A. Williams

No	171
Date of Notice	11 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Burt	Eva Louisa Thomas
	💍 1913/1987
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brushmaker	Household duties
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	16 years	Life
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Thomas, 116 King Street, Sydenham
Folio	13/1452
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Williams

172

11 March 1913

Robert Henry Cook
Liliana Welti

Robert Henry Cook
Liliano Welti
💍 1913/769

Bachelor
Widow (1900)

Farmer

30
38

Marshland
Marshland

4 years
6 weeks

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/173

11 March 1913

Registrar

No	172
Date of Notice	11 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Cook	Liliana Welti
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Henry Cook	Liliano Welti
	💍 1913/769
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (1900)
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	38
Dwelling Place	Marshland	Marshland
Length of Residence	4 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/173
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

173

11 March 1913

Miles Dickson
Mary Florence Campbell

Miles Dickson
Mary Florence Campbell
💍 1913/2344

Bachelor
Spinster

Chairmaker
Clerk

28
29

Linwood
Addington

20 years
10 years

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

13/1911

11 March 1913

Rev. J. MacKenzie

No	173
Date of Notice	11 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Miles Dickson	Mary Florence Campbell
	💍 1913/2344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chairmaker	Clerk
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Addington
Length of Residence	20 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1911
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. MacKenzie

174

12 March 1913

Alfred Charles Hurst
Ada Evelyn Babbage

Alfred Charles Hurst
Ada Evelyn Babbage
💍 1913/2417

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
26

Goldhurst
Christchurch

12 months
3 days

St. Peter's Church, Riccarton

13/1876

12 March 1913

Rev. H. T. York

No	174
Date of Notice	12 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Charles Hurst	Ada Evelyn Babbage
	💍 1913/2417
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Goldhurst	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 months	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Riccarton
Folio	13/1876
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. T. York

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).