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 075

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

241

25 March 1913

Alexander Gow
Jean Tabitha Buist

Alexander Gow
Jean Topitha Buist
💍 1913/1825

Bachelor
Spinster

Law Clerk
Domestic Duties

34
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
2 weeks

Knox Church, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch

13/1339

25 March 1913

Rev. R. Erwin

No	241
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Gow	Jean Tabitha Buist
BDM Match (94%)	Alexander Gow	Jean Topitha Buist
	💍 1913/1825
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Law Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	13/1339
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin

242

25 March 1913

Charles Alexander Lawrie
Mary Ann Elizabeth Carey

Charles Alexander Lawrie
Mary Ann Elizabeth Corey
💍 1913/1984

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

31
36

Christchurch
Papanui

7 days
4 months

Wesleyan Church, Papanui

13/1472

25 March 1913

Rev. A. Peters

No	242
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Alexander Lawrie	Mary Ann Elizabeth Carey
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Alexander Lawrie	Mary Ann Elizabeth Corey
	💍 1913/1984
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Papanui
Length of Residence	7 days	4 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Papanui
Folio	13/1472
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Peters

243

25 March 1913

Charles William McKeegan
Adelene Dorothea Relph

Charles William McKeegan
Adelene Dorothea Ralph
💍 1913/4612

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent
Typiste

27
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
2 months

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

13/4214

25 March 1913

Rev. C. G. Mutter

No	243
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William McKeegan	Adelene Dorothea Relph
BDM Match (98%)	Charles William McKeegan	Adelene Dorothea Ralph
	💍 1913/4612
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent	Typiste
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	2 months
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/4214
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. G. Mutter

244

25 March 1913

Thorwald Henry Andrews
Rosina Collins

Thorwald Henry Andrews
Rosina Collins
💍 1913/4204

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Machinist

24
28

Sydenham
Sydenham

6 years
Life

Congregational Church, Tennyson St, Christchurch

13/3655

25 March 1913

Rev. H. S. Perkins

No	244
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thorwald Henry Andrews	Rosina Collins
	💍 1913/4204
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Machinist
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	6 years	Life
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Tennyson St, Christchurch
Folio	13/3655
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Perkins

245

25 March 1913

John Edmond Smith
Ruby Stella Wilson

John Edmund Smith
Ruby Stella Wilson
💍 1913/4233

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Officer
Housekeeper

22
20

Addington
Opawa

4 years
3 years

House of M. D. Wilson, 20 Richardson Street, Opawa

13/3775

David Wilson, Father

25 March 1913

Rev. J. McDonald

No	245
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edmond Smith	Ruby Stella Wilson
BDM Match (97%)	John Edmund Smith	Ruby Stella Wilson
	💍 1913/4233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Officer	Housekeeper
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Addington	Opawa
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of M. D. Wilson, 20 Richardson Street, Opawa
Folio	13/3775
Consent	David Wilson, Father
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McDonald

246

25 March 1913

Harry Percival McIver
Ruby Eva Frances Barrett

Harry Percival McIver
Ruby Eva Frances Barrett
💍 1913/2351

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk

21
20

Addington
Addington

6 days
6 weeks

House of W. Barrett, 13 Macaulay St, Addington

13/1918

James Barrett, Father

25 March 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	246
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Percival McIver	Ruby Eva Frances Barrett
	💍 1913/2351
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	6 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	House of W. Barrett, 13 Macaulay St, Addington
Folio	13/1918
Consent	James Barrett, Father
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

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).