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 171

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 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

756

21 October 1913

William McKenzie Johnston
Jane Mercer

William McKenzie Johnston
Jane Mercer
💍 1913/7893

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

27
28

Christchurch
St. Albans

5 1/2 years
3 weeks

House of Mr. J. B. Watson, 54 Madras St.

13/7708

21 October 1913

Rev. T. Tait

No	756
Date of Notice	21 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McKenzie Johnston	Jane Mercer
	💍 1913/7893
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	5 1/2 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. B. Watson, 54 Madras St.
Folio	13/7708
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Tait

757

21 October 1913

Ernest William Gray
Catherine Erskine Dick

Ernest William Gray
Catherine Erskine Dick
💍 1913/7892

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
2 years

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

13/7707

21 October 1913

Rev. T. Tait

No	757
Date of Notice	21 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest William Gray	Catherine Erskine Dick
	💍 1913/7892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/7707
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Tait

758

21 October 1913

Walter Vivian Outridge Pankhurst
Minnie Ogilvie Bowman

Walter Vivian Outridge Pankhurst
Minnie Ogilvie Bowman
💍 1913/8507

Bachelor
Spinster

Upholsterer
Machinist

28
25

Shirley
Christchurch

Life
20 years

Methodist Church, East Belt

13/8223

21 October 1913

Rev. W. A. Sinclair

No	758
Date of Notice	21 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Vivian Outridge Pankhurst	Minnie Ogilvie Bowman
	💍 1913/8507
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Upholsterer	Machinist
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Shirley	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	20 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, East Belt
Folio	13/8223
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Sinclair

759

21 October 1913

Frederick Henry Arnot
Lessie Isabel Haynes

Frederick Henry Arnst
Lessie Isabel Haynes
💍 1913/8745

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

26
22

Tai Tapu
Prebbleton

Life
Life

Anglican Church, Prebbleton

13/8764

21 October 1913

Rev. E. Webb

No	759
Date of Notice	21 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Henry Arnot	Lessie Isabel Haynes
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Henry Arnst	Lessie Isabel Haynes
	💍 1913/8745
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Tai Tapu	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Prebbleton
Folio	13/8764
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Webb

760

21 October 1913

Frank Arthur Webb
Marion Chisholm

Frank Arthur Webb
Marion Chisholm
💍 1913/7975

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

30
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
15 years

St. Matthew's Church, Christchurch

13/7742

21 October 1913

Rev. R. B. Haggitt

No	760
Date of Notice	21 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Arthur Webb	Marion Chisholm
	💍 1913/7975
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/7742
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. B. Haggitt

761

21 October 1913

Ernest Vincent
Violet Mary Georgina Millar

Ernest Vincent
Violet Mary Georgina Millar
💍 1913/7883

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Milliner

26
25

St. Albans
St. Albans

3 days
4 weeks

St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

13/7699

21 October 1913

Rev. H. H. Sedgwick

No	761
Date of Notice	21 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Vincent	Violet Mary Georgina Millar
	💍 1913/7883
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Milliner
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 days	4 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/7699
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. H. Sedgwick

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).