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 087

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

293

7 April 1913

James Hayward Ewart
Dorothy Susan Hodge

James Hayward Ewart
Dorothy Susan Hodge
💍 1913/4052

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Tailoress

22
21

Linwood
Riccarton

4 years
1 year

St. Andrews Manse Christchurch

13/3578

7 April 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	293
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hayward Ewart	Dorothy Susan Hodge
	💍 1913/4052
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Tailoress
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Riccarton
Length of Residence	4 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Manse Christchurch
Folio	13/3578
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

294

7 April 1913

William Skilling
Edna Woodcock

William Skilling
Edna Woodcock
💍 1913/4020

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse driver

28
23

Opawa
Christchurch

2 years
2 years

St. Paul's Manse Christchurch

13/3552

7 April 1913

Rev. T. Tait

No	294
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Skilling	Edna Woodcock
	💍 1913/4020
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse driver
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Manse Christchurch
Folio	13/3552
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Tait

295

7 April 1913

Arthur Levi White
Annie McTavish

Arthur Levi White
Annie McTainsh
💍 1913/4199

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

22
22

Fendalton
Sydenham

3 years
4 years

House of Mr. R. Carmichael, Waverley St. Christchurch

13/3673

7 April 1913

Mr. O. R. Lanyon

No	295
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Levi White	Annie McTavish
BDM Match (93%)	Arthur Levi White	Annie McTainsh
	💍 1913/4199
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. R. Carmichael, Waverley St. Christchurch
Folio	13/3673
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Mr. O. R. Lanyon

296

7 April 1913

John William Evans
Gertrude Silva

John William Evans
Gertrude Silva
💍 1913/4143

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist

23
20

Addington
St. Albans

2 years
9 months

St. Mary's Presbytery Christchurch

13/3693

14 days notice

22 April 1913

Rev. R. Hoare

No	296
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Evans	Gertrude Silva
	💍 1913/4143
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Addington	St. Albans
Length of Residence	2 years	9 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Presbytery Christchurch
Folio	13/3693
Consent	14 days notice
Date of Certificate	22 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Hoare

297

7 April 1913

Frank Emanuel Joblin
Annie Shea

Frank Emanuel Joblin
Annie Shea
💍 1913/4081

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse driver

27
25

Lyttelton
Sydenham

2 years
10 days

Roman Catholic Presbytery Christchurch

13/3607

7 April 1913

Rev. P. Cooney

No	297
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Emanuel Joblin	Annie Shea
	💍 1913/4081
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse driver
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	10 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Christchurch
Folio	13/3607
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Cooney

298

8 April 1913

Sydney Smyth
Martha Elizabeth Burt

Sydney Smith
Martha Elizabeth Burt
💍 1913/6674

Bachelor
Spinster

Shunter, Photographer
Assistant

26
21

Papanui
Papanui

3 days
2 years

St. Paul's Church Papanui

13/6183

8 April 1913

Rev. J. A. Julius

No	298
Date of Notice	8 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Smyth	Martha Elizabeth Burt
BDM Match (96%)	Sydney Smith	Martha Elizabeth Burt
	💍 1913/6674
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shunter, Photographer	Assistant
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Papanui
Folio	13/6183
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Julius

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).