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 128

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

522

1 July 1913

Ernest Harold Ewings
Florence Pendergast Chatterley

Ernest Harold Ewings
Florence Pendergast Chatterley
💍 1913/5993

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

30
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

life
1 year

St. Mary Church, Addington

13/5553

1 July 1913

Rev. W. S. Bean

No	522
Date of Notice	1 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Harold Ewings	Florence Pendergast Chatterley
	💍 1913/5993
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	life	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Mary Church, Addington
Folio	13/5553
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean

523

1 July 1913

Herbert Philip William Morris Boyd
Alice Maude Berry

Herbert Philip William Morris Boyd
Alice Maude Berry
💍 1913/5988

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

13/5548

1 July 1913

Rev. M. O'Boyle

No	523
Date of Notice	1 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Philip William Morris Boyd	Alice Maude Berry
	💍 1913/5988
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	13/5548
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. O'Boyle

524

1 July 1913

Francis William Wilkin
Alice Agnes Johns

Francis William Wilkin
Alice Agnes Johns
💍 1913/6599

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

39
32

Christchurch
Riccarton

5 days
Life

St. Pauls Church, Papanui

13/6359

1 July 1913

Rev. F. Dunnage

No	524
Date of Notice	1 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis William Wilkin	Alice Agnes Johns
	💍 1913/6599
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	39	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	5 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church, Papanui
Folio	13/6359
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Dunnage

525

2 July 1913

William Sanders Bowie
Kate Bell Bowie

William Sanders Bowie
Kate Bell Bowie
💍 1913/5989

Bachelor
Spinster

School Teacher
Hospital Nurse

36
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
30 yrs

Church of England, Burwood

13/5549

1 July 1913

Rev. C. H. Tobin

No	525
Date of Notice	2 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Sanders Bowie	Kate Bell Bowie
	💍 1913/5989
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School Teacher	Hospital Nurse
Age	36	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	30 yrs
Marriage Place	Church of England, Burwood
Folio	13/5549
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Tobin

526

3 July 1913

James Savin
Margaret Cartwright

James Savin
Margaret Cartwright
💍 1913/5981

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

29
28

Rolleston
Spreydon

2 mos.
1 month

St. Andrews Church, Christchurch

13/5564

3 July 1913

Rev. D. D. Rodger

No	526
Date of Notice	3 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Savin	Margaret Cartwright
	💍 1913/5981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Rolleston	Spreydon
Length of Residence	2 mos.	1 month
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/5564
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. D. Rodger

527

3 July 1913

George Robert Giles
Isabella Robina Bayne

George Robert Giles
Isabella Robina Bayne
💍 1913/5990

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

21
21

Linwood
Linwood

10 yrs
2 yrs

House of Mrs. Giles, 68 Matheson Rd, Linwood

13/5550

3 July 1913

Rev. T. McDonald

No	527
Date of Notice	3 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robert Giles	Isabella Robina Bayne
	💍 1913/5990
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	10 yrs	2 yrs
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Giles, 68 Matheson Rd, Linwood
Folio	13/5550
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. McDonald

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).