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 140

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

594

11 August 1913

George Urban Judkins
Louisa Jones

George Urban Judkins
Louisa Jones
💍 1913/3521

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

25
27

Sydenham
Sydenham

14 years
7 years

Oxford Ter. Baptist Church Christchurch

13/5588

11 August 1913

Rev. J. J. North

No	594
Date of Notice	11 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Urban Judkins	Louisa Jones
	💍 1913/3521
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	14 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Oxford Ter. Baptist Church Christchurch
Folio	13/5588
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North

595

11 August 1913

Hugh Hunter
Edith Elsie Payne

Hugh Hunter
Edith Elsie Payne
💍 1913/8908

Bachelor
Spinster

Assistant P.O. Messenger
Tailoress

27
28

St. Albans
St. Albans

2 years
10 years

St. Mary's Church Merivale

13/8487

11 August 1913

Rev. W. Ford-Hutchinson

No	595
Date of Notice	11 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Hunter	Edith Elsie Payne
	💍 1913/8908
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Assistant P.O. Messenger	Tailoress
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Merivale
Folio	13/8487
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Ford-Hutchinson

596

11 August 1913

Joseph William Baker
Ellen Barbara Pierson

Joseph William Baker
Barbara Ellen Pierson
💍 1913/8663

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

31
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
Life

Methodist Church, Cambridge Ter. Christchurch

13/8501

11 August 1913

Rev. B. Metson

No	596
Date of Notice	11 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph William Baker	Ellen Barbara Pierson
BDM Match (71%)	Joseph William Baker	Barbara Ellen Pierson
	💍 1913/8663
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Cambridge Ter. Christchurch
Folio	13/8501
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Metson

597

11 August 1913

Horace James Harry Jolly
Anna Duffell

Horace James Harry Jolly
Anna Duffell
💍 1913/5918

Bachelor
Spinster

Tram Conductor

29
27

Sydenham
Sydenham

29 years
27 years

Methodist Church, corner of Brougham & Colombo Sts. Sydenham

13/5603

11 August 1913

Rev. A. U. Scotter

No	597
Date of Notice	11 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace James Harry Jolly	Anna Duffell
	💍 1913/5918
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tram Conductor
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	29 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, corner of Brougham & Colombo Sts. Sydenham
Folio	13/5603
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. U. Scotter

598

12 August 1913

Richard Campbell
Ella Gertrude Livingstone

Richard Campbell
Ella Gertrude Livingstone
💍 1913/6389

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

32
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
3 days

House of Mrs. A. Campbell, 13 St. Asaph St. Christchurch

13/5615

James Livingstone, Father

12 August 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	598
Date of Notice	12 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Campbell	Ella Gertrude Livingstone
	💍 1913/6389
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. A. Campbell, 13 St. Asaph St. Christchurch
Folio	13/5615
Consent	James Livingstone, Father
Date of Certificate	12 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

599

12 August 1913

Richard Collins Thornton
Georgina Bryce

Richard Collins Thornton
Georgina Boyce
💍 1913/3523

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk

23
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 weeks
1 week

St. Mary's Church Addington

13/5589

12 August 1913

Rev. W. S. Bean

No	599
Date of Notice	12 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Collins Thornton	Georgina Bryce
BDM Match (96%)	Richard Collins Thornton	Georgina Boyce
	💍 1913/3523
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 weeks	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Addington
Folio	13/5589
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean

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).