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 070

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

217

19 March 1913

Edmund Kennedy Meiles
Aileen Grace Burton

Edmund Kennedy Mules
Aileen Grace Burton
💍 1913/4613

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk in Holy Orders

35
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
2 years

St Michaels Church, Christchurch

13/4215

19 March 1913

Rev. N. D. Burton

No	217
Date of Notice	19 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Kennedy Meiles	Aileen Grace Burton
BDM Match (95%)	Edmund Kennedy Mules	Aileen Grace Burton
	💍 1913/4613
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk in Holy Orders
Age	35	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St Michaels Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/4215
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. D. Burton

218

19 March 1913

John Gilman Sharp Dunn
Louisa Lewis Gibson

John Gilman Sharp Dunn
Louisa Lewis Gibson
💍 1913/2348

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor
Typiste

25
23

Napier
Christchurch

5 years
7 years

St Andrews Church, Christchurch

13/1915

19 March 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	218
Date of Notice	19 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gilman Sharp Dunn	Louisa Lewis Gibson
	💍 1913/2348
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor	Typiste
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1915
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

219

19 March 1913

John Campbell
Agnes Freeman

John Campbell
Agnes Freeman
💍 1913/760

Bachelor
Widow

Leather Dresser

28
39

Woolston
Sydenham

1 year
2 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/165

19 March 1913

Registrar

No	219
Date of Notice	19 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Campbell	Agnes Freeman
	💍 1913/760
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Leather Dresser
Age	28	39
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Sydenham
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/165
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

220

20 March 1913

Thomas Bartlett commonly known as Bartley
Flora Beatrice Lanyon

Thomas Bartley
Flora Beatrice Lanyon
💍 1913/1854

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Waitress

21
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 month
22 years

House of M. Costley, 140 Salisbury St, Christchurch

13/1368

20 March 1913

Rev. S. Henderson

No	220
Date of Notice	20 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Bartlett commonly known as Bartley	Flora Beatrice Lanyon
BDM Match (67%)	Thomas Bartley	Flora Beatrice Lanyon
	💍 1913/1854
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Waitress
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 month	22 years
Marriage Place	House of M. Costley, 140 Salisbury St, Christchurch
Folio	13/1368
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson

221

20 March 1913

Alfred Victor Smith
Julia Ivy Lily Ruby Griffiths

Alfred Victor Smith
Julia Ivy Lily Ruby Griffiths
💍 1913/1856

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Tailoress

18
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
Life

Methodist Church, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch

13/1369

Alfred Smith, father; Margaret Ann Smith, Mother

20 March 1913

Rev. S. Henderson

No	221
Date of Notice	20 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Victor Smith	Julia Ivy Lily Ruby Griffiths
	💍 1913/1856
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Tailoress
Age	18	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	13/1369
Consent	Alfred Smith, father; Margaret Ann Smith, Mother
Date of Certificate	20 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson

222

20 March 1913

Albert Edward Jones
Alberta Nichols

Albert Edward Jones
Alberta Nichols
💍 1913/1917

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

29
25

Leeston
Christchurch

Life
3 years

Methodist Church, Durham St, Christchurch

13/1432

20 March 1913

Rev. C. H. Laws

No	222
Date of Notice	20 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Jones	Alberta Nichols
	💍 1913/1917
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Leeston	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	3 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Durham St, Christchurch
Folio	13/1432
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Laws

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).