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 082

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

269

1 April 1913

Arthur Genet
Lillie Baker

Arthur Genek
Lillie Baker
💍 1913/4201

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Tailoress

28
27

Christchurch
Papanui

Life
Life

Methodist Church, Cambridge Terrace

13/3652

1 April 1913

Rev. S. Henderson

No	269
Date of Notice	1 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Genet	Lillie Baker
BDM Match (96%)	Arthur Genek	Lillie Baker
	💍 1913/4201
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Tailoress
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Papanui
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Cambridge Terrace
Folio	13/3652
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson

270

1 April 1913

Daniel Reese
Esther Nina Blucher Parsonson

Daniel Reese
Esther Nina Blucher Parsonson
💍 1913/4133

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

34
26

Christchurch
St. Albans

Life
13 years

St. Albans Methodist Church

13/3675

1 April 1913

Rev. W. Saunders

No	270
Date of Notice	1 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Reese	Esther Nina Blucher Parsonson
	💍 1913/4133
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	13 years
Marriage Place	St. Albans Methodist Church
Folio	13/3675
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Saunders

271

1 April 1913

John Benjamin Cade
Mary Ellen Joyce

John Benjamin Cade
Mary Ellen Joyce
💍 1913/4142

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Clerk

30
30

Addington
Papanui

15 years
Life

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manchester St.

13/3692

1 April 1913

Rev. R. J. Hoare

No	271
Date of Notice	1 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Benjamin Cade	Mary Ellen Joyce
	💍 1913/4142
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Clerk
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Addington	Papanui
Length of Residence	15 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manchester St.
Folio	13/3692
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Hoare

272

1 April 1913

Henry Skinner
Edith Eva Ellenor Russell

Henry Skinner
Edith Eva Eleanor Russell
💍 1913/4026

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer

26
22

Brookside
Christchurch

26 years
3 days

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

13/3575

1 April 1913

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	272
Date of Notice	1 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Skinner	Edith Eva Ellenor Russell
BDM Match (96%)	Henry Skinner	Edith Eva Eleanor Russell
	💍 1913/4026
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Brookside	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	13/3575
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

273

1 April 1913

Albert Thomas Apes
Mary Louis Rummel

Albert Thomas Apes
Mary Louis Rummel
💍 1913/3976

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
19

Sydenham
Christchurch

18 months
10 years

House of Mrs. Rummel, 11 Conference St.

13/3550

Karen Dorthea Rummel, mother

1 April 1913

Rev. T. Tait

No	273
Date of Notice	1 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Thomas Apes	Mary Louis Rummel
	💍 1913/3976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Rummel, 11 Conference St.
Folio	13/3550
Consent	Karen Dorthea Rummel, mother
Date of Certificate	1 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Tait

274

1 April 1913

Obadiah Oscar John Fletcher
Margaret Elsie Cowan

Obadiah Oscar John Fletcher
Margaret Elsie Cowan
💍 1913/4086

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
General Servant

20
24

Opawa
Upper Riccarton

15 years
Life

St. Peter's Church

13/3636

1 April 1913

Rev. H. T. York

No	274
Date of Notice	1 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Obadiah Oscar John Fletcher	Margaret Elsie Cowan
	💍 1913/4086
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	General Servant
Age	20	24
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Upper Riccarton
Length of Residence	15 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church
Folio	13/3636
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 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).