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 130

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

534

7 July 1913

Wilfred Laine
Elizabeth Mutimer

Wilfred Laine
Elizabeth Mutimer
💍 1913/5975

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman N.Z.R.
Tailoress

23
19

Sockburn
Sockburn

18 years
8 years

House of Mr. R. Mutimer, 19 Warder's Road

13/559

Robert Mutimer, Father

7 July 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	534
Date of Notice	7 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilfred Laine	Elizabeth Mutimer
	💍 1913/5975
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman N.Z.R.	Tailoress
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Sockburn	Sockburn
Length of Residence	18 years	8 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. R. Mutimer, 19 Warder's Road
Folio	13/559
Consent	Robert Mutimer, Father
Date of Certificate	7 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

535

7 July 1913

George Alfred Christie
Minnie Robinson

George Alfred Christie
Minnie Robinson
💍 1913/8768

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Tailoress

25
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
11 months

House of Mr. G.A. Christie, 287 Bealey Street, St. Albans, Christchurch

13/8597

7 July 1913

Rev. B. Metson

No	535
Date of Notice	7 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alfred Christie	Minnie Robinson
	💍 1913/8768
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Tailoress
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	11 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. G.A. Christie, 287 Bealey Street, St. Albans, Christchurch
Folio	13/8597
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Metson

536

7 July 1913

Frederick William Venn
Marie Christine Lieske

Frederick William Venn
Marie Christine Lieske
💍 1913/5973

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

36
32

S.S. Canopus
Christchurch

Life

House of Mr. O. Lieske, 187 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

13/5557

7 July 1913

Rev. C.H. Laws

No	536
Date of Notice	7 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Venn	Marie Christine Lieske
	💍 1913/5973
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	36	32
Dwelling Place	S.S. Canopus	Christchurch
Length of Residence		Life
Marriage Place	House of Mr. O. Lieske, 187 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	13/5557
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C.H. Laws

537

7 July 1913

Joseph William McElroy
Lillian Edna Ivy Rowe Phillips

Joseph William McIlroy
Lillian Ednol Ivy Rowe Phillips
💍 1913/8906

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

31
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St. Mary's Church, Merivale

13/8485

William Phillips, Father

7 July 1913

Rev. W.F. Hutchinson

No	537
Date of Notice	7 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph William McElroy	Lillian Edna Ivy Rowe Phillips
BDM Match (95%)	Joseph William McIlroy	Lillian Ednol Ivy Rowe Phillips
	💍 1913/8906
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	31	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Merivale
Folio	13/8485
Consent	William Phillips, Father
Date of Certificate	7 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W.F. Hutchinson

538

8 July 1913

John Leonard Coakley
Emily Marguerite McCarron

John Leonard Coakley
Emily Marguerite McCarron
💍 1913/5991

Bachelor
Spinster

Auctioneer
Nurse

29
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
3 months

St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch

13/5551

8 July 1913

Rev. F.L. Dignan

No	538
Date of Notice	8 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Leonard Coakley	Emily Marguerite McCarron
	💍 1913/5991
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Auctioneer	Nurse
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	3 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch
Folio	13/5551
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F.L. Dignan

539

8 July 1913

Donald Fraser
Edith Pither

Donald Fraser
Edith Pithus
💍 1913/5971

Widower
Spinster

Land Agent

42
38

Lower Hutt
Christchurch

12 years
2 years

House of Mr. John Pither, 319 Andover Street, Christchurch

13/5553

8 July 1913

Rev. H.E. Bellhouse

No	539
Date of Notice	8 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Fraser	Edith Pither
BDM Match (92%)	Donald Fraser	Edith Pithus
	💍 1913/5971
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Land Agent
Age	42	38
Dwelling Place	Lower Hutt	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. John Pither, 319 Andover Street, Christchurch
Folio	13/5553
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.E. Bellhouse

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).