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 064

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

181

13 March 1913

Peter Arnold Adolphus Schwartz
Georgina Simmons

Peter Arnold Adolphus Schwartz
Georfina Simmons
💍 1913/4103

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Waitress

26
25

Sydenham
Christchurch

21 years
2 years

St. Mary's Church Addington

13/3630

13 March 1913

Rev. W. P. Bean

No	181
Date of Notice	13 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Arnold Adolphus Schwartz	Georgina Simmons
BDM Match (97%)	Peter Arnold Adolphus Schwartz	Georfina Simmons
	💍 1913/4103
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Waitress
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Addington
Folio	13/3630
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. P. Bean

182

13 March 1913

Percy Brown
Ethel Westbury Broome

Percy Brown
Ethel Westbury Broome
💍 1913/1870

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Milliner

24
23

Spreydon
Sydenham

Life
Life

Sydenham Methodist Church

13/1409

13 March 1913

Rev. A. H. Scotter

No	182
Date of Notice	13 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Brown	Ethel Westbury Broome
	💍 1913/1870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Milliner
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Sydenham
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Sydenham Methodist Church
Folio	13/1409
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Scotter

183

13 March 1913

Archibald McEffert
Mabel Mary Derbidge

Archibald McGifford
Mabel Mary Derbidge
💍 1913/1852

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

34
33

Belfast
Belfast

10 days
9 years

St. David's Church Belfast

13/1366

13 March 1913

Rev. H. D. Wilkinson

No	183
Date of Notice	13 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald McEffert	Mabel Mary Derbidge
BDM Match (89%)	Archibald McGifford	Mabel Mary Derbidge
	💍 1913/1852
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	34	33
Dwelling Place	Belfast	Belfast
Length of Residence	10 days	9 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Church Belfast
Folio	13/1366
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. D. Wilkinson

184

13 March 1913

Walter Ernest Rogers
Constance Louisa Dawson Norrie

Walter Ernest Rogers
Constance Louise Dawson Norrie
💍 1913/4614

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Dressmaker

27
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

13 years
Life

St. Michael's Church

13/4216

13 March 1913

Rev. H. W. Burton

No	184
Date of Notice	13 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Ernest Rogers	Constance Louisa Dawson Norrie
BDM Match (98%)	Walter Ernest Rogers	Constance Louise Dawson Norrie
	💍 1913/4614
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Dressmaker
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	13 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	13/4216
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Burton

185

14 March 1913

Charles Wilfred Iver Maclaverty
Margaret Rosa Waling

Charles Wilfred Iver MacLaverty
Margaret Rosa Maling
💍 1913/4185

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk in Holy Orders

38
39

Wellington
Christchurch

1 year
20 years

St. Mary's Church Merivale

13/4260

14 March 1913

Rev. U. Harper

No	185
Date of Notice	14 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Wilfred Iver Maclaverty	Margaret Rosa Waling
BDM Match (96%)	Charles Wilfred Iver MacLaverty	Margaret Rosa Maling
	💍 1913/4185
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk in Holy Orders
Age	38	39
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Merivale
Folio	13/4260
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. U. Harper

186

14 March 1913

Frederick John Campbell
Daisy Katherine McIntosh

Frederick John Crawford
Daisy Katherine McIntosh
💍 1913/1902

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller
Drapery Saleswoman

26
25

Linwood
Christchurch

Life
16 years

St. John's Church Christchurch

13/1441

14 March 1913

Rev. H. Purches

No	186
Date of Notice	14 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Campbell	Daisy Katherine McIntosh
BDM Match (85%)	Frederick John Crawford	Daisy Katherine McIntosh
	💍 1913/1902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller	Drapery Saleswoman
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	16 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church Christchurch
Folio	13/1441
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Purches

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).