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 220

District of Ellesmere Quarter ending 30 June 1913 Registrar W. A. Mansell

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

29 May 1913

James Alfred Walter Collins
Elizabeth Jane Roberts

James Alfred Walter Collins
Elizabeh Jane Roberts
💍 1913/4162

Bachelor
Widow

Electrician
Domestic Duties

32
28

Leeston
Leeston

8 days
Life

Residence of James Dunn, Leeston

13/3737

29 May 1913

Rev R. H. Blair, Leeston

No	15
Date of Notice	29 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alfred Walter Collins	Elizabeth Jane Roberts
BDM Match (98%)	James Alfred Walter Collins	Elizabeh Jane Roberts
	💍 1913/4162
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Electrician	Domestic Duties
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Leeston	Leeston
Length of Residence	8 days	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of James Dunn, Leeston
Folio	13/3737
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev R. H. Blair, Leeston

17 June 1913

Walter Bland Wilson
Lillian Lucy Thurford

Walter Clark Wilson
Lillian Lucy Hurford
💍 1913/4163

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

32
26

Papakaio
Leeston

3 days
10 years

St John Church of England, Oamaru

13/3738

17 June 1913

Rev G. H. Orbell, Leeston

No	16
Date of Notice	17 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Bland Wilson	Lillian Lucy Thurford
BDM Match (87%)	Walter Clark Wilson	Lillian Lucy Hurford
	💍 1913/4163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Papakaio	Leeston
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	St John Church of England, Oamaru
Folio	13/3738
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev G. H. Orbell, Leeston

18 June 1913

Edward Kilbride
Ellen Harney

Edward Kilbride
Ellen Harney
💍 1913/4878

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

30
21

Southbridge
Southbridge

30 years
21 years

Roman Catholic Church, Southbridge

13/4431

18 June 1913

Rev Father John Bowden, Leeston

No	17
Date of Notice	18 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Kilbride	Ellen Harney
	💍 1913/4878
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Southbridge	Southbridge
Length of Residence	30 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Southbridge
Folio	13/4431
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev Father John Bowden, Leeston

18 June 1913

Oscar Henry Iles
Mary Jane Allen

Oscar Henry Iles
Mary Jane Allen
💍 1913/6106

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

28
26

Geraldine
Southbridge

6 weeks
26 years

Church of England, Killinchy

13/5689

18 June 1913

Rev G. H. Shaw, Southbridge

No	18
Date of Notice	18 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oscar Henry Iles	Mary Jane Allen
	💍 1913/6106
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Southbridge
Length of Residence	6 weeks	26 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Killinchy
Folio	13/5689
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev G. H. Shaw, Southbridge

24 June 1913

Henry James Chessman
Annette Croat

Henry James Chedsuar
Annette Ceoat
💍 1913/4179

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27
22

Prebbleton
Leeston

20 years
15 years

Methodist Church, Christchurch

13/3730

24 June 1913

Rev A. G. Hughes, Leeston

No	19
Date of Notice	24 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Chessman	Annette Croat
BDM Match (89%)	Henry James Chedsuar	Annette Ceoat
	💍 1913/4179
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Leeston
Length of Residence	20 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/3730
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev A. G. Hughes, Leeston

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).