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 163

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 December 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

708

1 October 1913

William Ingram Connor
Mary Louisa Bligh

William Ingram Connor
Mary Louisa Bligh
💍 1913/7997

Bachelor
Spinster

News Agent

22
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
Life

St. John's Church, Christchurch

13/7764

Catherine Bligh, mother

1 October 1913

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	708
Date of Notice	1 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ingram Connor	Mary Louisa Bligh
	💍 1913/7997
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	News Agent
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/7764
Consent	Catherine Bligh, mother
Date of Certificate	1 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

709

1 October 1913

Owen Frederick Bishop
Clara Jane Dulieu

Owen Frederick Bishop
Clara Jane Dulieu
💍 1913/8012

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

23
25

Kirwee
St. Albans

3 months
10 years

Methodist Church, St. Albans

13/7803

1 October 1913

Rev. H. E. Sellhouse

No	709
Date of Notice	1 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Owen Frederick Bishop	Clara Jane Dulieu
	💍 1913/8012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Kirwee	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, St. Albans
Folio	13/7803
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Sellhouse

710

2 October 1913

Edward Clifton Gibbons
Ethel Margaret Walker

Edward Clifton Gibbons
Ethel Margaret Walker
💍 1913/8040

Bachelor
Spinster

Seedsman
Dressmaker

27
29

St. Albans
Christchurch

13 years
Life

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

13/7730

2 October 1913

Rev. H. D. Burton

No	710
Date of Notice	2 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Clifton Gibbons	Ethel Margaret Walker
	💍 1913/8040
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seedsman	Dressmaker
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	13 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/7730
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. D. Burton

711

2 October 1913

Henry Neville Eiby
Nora Isabella Denham

Henry Neville Eily
Nora Isabella Denham
💍 1913/9120

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

28
26

Christchurch
Avonside

6 years
26 years

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

13/8798

2 October 1913

Rev. O. Fitzgerald

No	711
Date of Notice	2 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Neville Eiby	Nora Isabella Denham
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Neville Eily	Nora Isabella Denham
	💍 1913/9120
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Avonside
Length of Residence	6 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	13/8798
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald

712

2 October 1913

Lewis Henry Chapman
Gertrude Alice Robinson

Lewis Henry Chapman
Gertrude Alice Robinson
💍 1913/8670

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

32
22

Spreydon
St. Albans

28 years
7 years

Methodist Church, Cambridge Ter.

13/8502

2 October 1913

Rev. A. Metson

No	712
Date of Notice	2 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lewis Henry Chapman	Gertrude Alice Robinson
	💍 1913/8670
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	St. Albans
Length of Residence	28 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Cambridge Ter.
Folio	13/8502
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Metson

713

4 October 1913

David James Davies
Mary Edith Davies

David James
Mary Edith Davies
💍 1913/8017

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Dressmaker

33
28

Linwood
Linwood

5 years
3 days

Trinity Congregational Church, Christchurch

13/7807

4 October 1913

Rev. J. Johnson

No	713
Date of Notice	4 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David James Davies	Mary Edith Davies
BDM Match (81%)	David James	Mary Edith Davies
	💍 1913/8017
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Dressmaker
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	5 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Trinity Congregational Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/7807
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Johnson

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).