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 091

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

317

15 April 1913

George Martin
Annie May Hancock

George Martin
Annie May Hancock
💍 1913/4102

Bachelor
Spinster

Law Clerk
Dressmaker

27
25

St. Albans
Linwood

Life
Life

St. Peters Presbyterian Church

13/3629

15 April 1913

Rev. T. McDonal

No	317
Date of Notice	15 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Martin	Annie May Hancock
	💍 1913/4102
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Law Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Linwood
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St. Peters Presbyterian Church
Folio	13/3629
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. McDonal

318

16 April 1913

Ruapeha Payne
Edith Violet Bearman Bongen

Ruapelin Payne
Edith Violet Bearman Bougen
💍 1913/4211

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

24
24

Christchurch
Woolston

3 days
4 years

St. Mark's Church, Opawa

13/3761

16 April 1913

Rev. H. Williams

No	318
Date of Notice	16 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ruapeha Payne	Edith Violet Bearman Bongen
BDM Match (87%)	Ruapelin Payne	Edith Violet Bearman Bougen
	💍 1913/4211
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Woolston
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Opawa
Folio	13/3761
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

319

16 April 1913

Herbert George Collier Commonly Known as Herbert George Prebble
May Rosalyn McNally

Herbert George Prebble
May Rosalyn McNally
💍 1913/4100

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Teacher

27
23

Prebbleton
Prebbleton

8 years
Life

All Saints' Church, Prebbleton

13/3649

16 April 1913

Rev. J. R. Wilford

No	319
Date of Notice	16 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert George Collier Commonly Known as Herbert George Prebble	May Rosalyn McNally
BDM Match (67%)	Herbert George Prebble	May Rosalyn McNally
	💍 1913/4100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Teacher
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	8 years	Life
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church, Prebbleton
Folio	13/3649
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Wilford

320

16 April 1913

Stanley Edward Davies
Elsie Maud Franklin

Stanley Edward Davies
Elsie Maud Franklin
💍 1913/4069

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

22
27

Sydenham
Sydenham

1 year
3 weeks

St. Mary's Church, Addington

13/3619

16 April 1913

Rev. W. S. Bean

No	320
Date of Notice	16 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Edward Davies	Elsie Maud Franklin
	💍 1913/4069
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	22	27
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	1 year	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	13/3619
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean

321

17 April 1913

John Oliver Cooper
Lilian Charlotte Nicie

John Oliver Cooper
Lilian Charlotte Nicie
💍 1913/4186

Bachelor
Spinster

Teamster

22
16

North Brighton
North Brighton

4 months
4 months

Church of England, Merivale

13/3661

William Nicie, Father

17 April 1913

Rev. J. Hay

No	321
Date of Notice	17 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Oliver Cooper	Lilian Charlotte Nicie
	💍 1913/4186
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teamster
Age	22	16
Dwelling Place	North Brighton	North Brighton
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Merivale
Folio	13/3661
Consent	William Nicie, Father
Date of Certificate	17 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hay

322

17 April 1913

William Henry Rountree
Elizabeth Edith May James

William Henry Rountree
Edith Elizabeth May James
💍 1913/4054

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

34
29

Marshland
Sydenham

30 years
29 years

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

13/3580

17 April 1913

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	322
Date of Notice	17 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Rountree	Elizabeth Edith May James
BDM Match (80%)	William Henry Rountree	Edith Elizabeth May James
	💍 1913/4054
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Marshland	Sydenham
Length of Residence	30 years	29 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	13/3580
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 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).