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 089

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

305

11 April 1913

William Wells
Eleanor Olive Hart

William Wells
Eleanor Olive Hart
💍 1913/3974

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller

24
20

Christchurch
Sydenham

21 years
13 years

Methodist Manse Sydenham

13/3548

Jane Hart, mother

11 April 1913

Rev. A. H. Scotts

No	305
Date of Notice	11 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wells	Eleanor Olive Hart
	💍 1913/3974
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	21 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Manse Sydenham
Folio	13/3548
Consent	Jane Hart, mother
Date of Certificate	11 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Scotts

306

12 April 1913

James Stewart
Agnes Duffell

James Stewart
Agnes Duffall
💍 1913/6454

Bachelor
Widow (17 October 1909)

Farmer

40
38

Ashley
Christchurch

1 week
4 days

House of Mr. W. Love, 28 Bealey St. St. Albans

13/6018

12 April 1913

Rev. R. Erwin

No	306
Date of Notice	12 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Stewart	Agnes Duffell
BDM Match (96%)	James Stewart	Agnes Duffall
	💍 1913/6454
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (17 October 1909)
Profession	Farmer
Age	40	38
Dwelling Place	Ashley	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	4 days
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. Love, 28 Bealey St. St. Albans
Folio	13/6018
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin

307

14 April 1913

Frank Rowland Sanders
Mary Decima Evelyn Wright

Frank Rowland Sanders
Mary Decima Evelyn Wright
💍 1913/6636

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

13/6323

14 April 1913

Rev. W. A. Pascoe

No	307
Date of Notice	14 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Rowland Sanders	Mary Decima Evelyn Wright
	💍 1913/6636
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	13/6323
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe

308

14 April 1913

William Christian Difford
Annie Baker

William Christen Ditfort
Annie Baker
💍 1913/4735

Widower (12 April 1907)
Spinster

Contractor

56
25

Sydenham
Tai Tapu

38 years
Life

Roman Catholic Presbytery Lincoln

13/4362

14 April 1913

Rev. Father O'Connor

No	308
Date of Notice	14 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Christian Difford	Annie Baker
BDM Match (92%)	William Christen Ditfort	Annie Baker
	💍 1913/4735
Condition	Widower (12 April 1907)	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	56	25
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Tai Tapu
Length of Residence	38 years	Life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Lincoln
Folio	13/4362
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father O'Connor

309

14 April 1913

Arthur Henry Clarke
Frances Healey

Arthur Harry Clarke
Frances Healey
💍 1913/3969

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Telephone Cadette

34
30

St. Albans
Spreydon

12 months
7 years

St. Matthew's Church Christchurch

13/3544

14 April 1913

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	309
Date of Notice	14 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Henry Clarke	Frances Healey
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur Harry Clarke	Frances Healey
	💍 1913/3969
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Telephone Cadette
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Spreydon
Length of Residence	12 months	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church Christchurch
Folio	13/3544
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

310

14 April 1913

Charles Vanstone
Bessie Frances Difford

Charles Vaustone
Bessie Frances Dilfort
💍 1913/4057

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

35
22

Sydenham
Sydenham

1 month
1 month

St. Saviour's Church Sydenham

13/3583

14 April 1913

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	310
Date of Notice	14 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Vanstone	Bessie Frances Difford
BDM Match (92%)	Charles Vaustone	Bessie Frances Dilfort
	💍 1913/4057
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	1 month	1 month
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church Sydenham
Folio	13/3583
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

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).