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 173

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

768

21 October 1913

William Henry Vernon Leeming
Margaret O'Malley

William Henry Vernon Leeming
Margaret O'Malley
💍 1913/8412

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

21
21

Papanui
Sydenham

7 years
Life

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbados St. Christchurch

8155

21 October 1913

Rev. T. W. Price

No	768
Date of Notice	21 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Vernon Leeming	Margaret O'Malley
	💍 1913/8412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Sydenham
Length of Residence	7 years	Life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbados St. Christchurch
Folio	8155
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Price

769

25 October 1913

Jack Percival Holmes
Gladys Augusta Paget

Jack Percival Holmes
Gladys Augusta Paget
💍 1913/8151

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

20
21

Sockburn
Christchurch

Life
3 days

St. Peters Church, Upper Riccarton

7818

Martha Holmes, mother

25 October 1913

Rev. H. T. York

No	769
Date of Notice	25 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jack Percival Holmes	Gladys Augusta Paget
	💍 1913/8151
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Sockburn	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Peters Church, Upper Riccarton
Folio	7818
Consent	Martha Holmes, mother
Date of Certificate	25 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. T. York

770

25 October 1913

Frank Curtis
Ida Isa Renshaw

Frank Curtis
Isa Renshaw
💍 1913/3547

Divorced
Spinster

Herbalist

49
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
5 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/6557

25 October 1913

Registrar

No	770
Date of Notice	25 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Curtis	Ida Isa Renshaw
BDM Match (87%)	Frank Curtis	Isa Renshaw
	💍 1913/3547
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Herbalist
Age	49	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/6557
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

771

25 October 1913

Frank William Hanham
Florence Mary Lewis

Frank William Harham
Florence May Lewis
💍 1913/7976

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Dressmaker

25
22

Spreydon
St. Albans

10 years
22 years

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans

7743

25 October 1913

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	771
Date of Notice	25 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank William Hanham	Florence Mary Lewis
BDM Match (95%)	Frank William Harham	Florence May Lewis
	💍 1913/7976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Dressmaker
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	St. Albans
Length of Residence	10 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans
Folio	7743
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

772

28 October 1913

James Logan Paterson
Evelyn Eliza Paddy

James Logan Paterson
Evelyn Eliza Paddy
💍 1913/7881

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24
22

Christchurch
Sydenham

5 days
15 years

St. David's Presbyterian Church

7697

28 October 1913

Rev. C. Murray

No	772
Date of Notice	28 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Logan Paterson	Evelyn Eliza Paddy
	💍 1913/7881
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	5 days	15 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Presbyterian Church
Folio	7697
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

773

28 October 1913

Archibald Charles Gallaway
Mabel Adams

Archibald Charles Callaway
Mabel Adams
💍 1913/8133

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

26
29

Christchurch
Styx

4 days
25 years

Presbyterian Church, Belfast

7824

28 October 1913

Rev. D. O. Rodger

No	773
Date of Notice	28 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Charles Gallaway	Mabel Adams
BDM Match (98%)	Archibald Charles Callaway	Mabel Adams
	💍 1913/8133
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Styx
Length of Residence	4 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Belfast
Folio	7824
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. O. Rodger

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).