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 105

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

401

12 May 1913

Thomas Charles Hudson
Mary Ann Ranger

Thomas Charles Hudson
Mary Ann Ranger
💍 1913/483

Bachelor
Spinster

Waiter

25
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 months
Life

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/2289

Robert Franklyn Ranger, Father

12 May 1913

Registrar

No	401
Date of Notice	12 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Charles Hudson	Mary Ann Ranger
	💍 1913/483
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waiter
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 months	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/2289
Consent	Robert Franklyn Ranger, Father
Date of Certificate	12 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

402

12 May 1913

Frank Samuel Graham
Susan Mary Russell

Frank Samuel Graham
Susan Mary Russell
💍 1913/4036

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
18

Sydenham
Sydenham

2 years
4 years

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

13/3586

Susan Elizabeth Russell, Mother

12 May 1913

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	402
Date of Notice	12 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Samuel Graham	Susan Mary Russell
	💍 1913/4036
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	13/3586
Consent	Susan Elizabeth Russell, Mother
Date of Certificate	12 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

403

13 May 1913

John Atkinson
Emma Charlotte Hogsden

John Atkinson
Emma Charlotte Hogsden
💍 1913/484

Divorced, 26 April 1913
Widow, 14 September 1911

Labourer

45
38

Christchurch
St. Albans

16 years
6 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/2290

13 May 1913

Registrar

No	403
Date of Notice	13 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Atkinson	Emma Charlotte Hogsden
	💍 1913/484
Condition	Divorced, 26 April 1913	Widow, 14 September 1911
Profession	Labourer
Age	45	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	16 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/2290
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

404

14 May 1913

Ernest Legg
Amy Ann Woodward

Ernest Legg
Amy Ann Woodward
💍 1913/4190

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
33

Prebbleton
Prebbleton

Life
20 years

St. Mary's Church, Springston

13/3665

14 May 1913

Rev. T. G. Smyth

No	404
Date of Notice	14 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Legg	Amy Ann Woodward
	💍 1913/4190
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	33
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	Life	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Springston
Folio	13/3665
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. G. Smyth

405

14 May 1913

Leonard Joseph Lilley
Rosey May Clements

Leonard Joseph Lilley
Rosey May Clements
💍 1913/4200

Bachelor
Spinster

Chauffeur
Shop Assistant

21
25

St. Albans
St. Albans

Life
3 years

Methodist Church, St. Albans

13/3674

14 May 1913

Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

No	405
Date of Notice	14 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Joseph Lilley	Rosey May Clements
	💍 1913/4200
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chauffeur	Shop Assistant
Age	21	25
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	3 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, St. Albans
Folio	13/3674
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

406

15 May 1913

Alfred Woosley
Ethel Florence Farrell

Alfred Worsley
Ethel Florence Farrell
💍 1913/4010

Bachelor
Spinster

Musician

36
27

St. Albans
Christchurch

1 year
arrived from London 15 May 1913

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans

13/3560

15 May 1913

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	406
Date of Notice	15 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Woosley	Ethel Florence Farrell
BDM Match (96%)	Alfred Worsley	Ethel Florence Farrell
	💍 1913/4010
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Musician
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	arrived from London 15 May 1913
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans
Folio	13/3560
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

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).