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 246

District of Kaiapoi Quarter ending 30 September 1913 Registrar William Nelson Poole

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

14 June 1913

Dunn
Emily Hoskin

William James Dunn
Emily Hoskin
💍 1913/6014

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

33
42

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

3 days
4 days

Mr. Wyatt's, Otaki St, Kaiapoi

13/5699

30 June 1913

Rev. Harold Garard Goring, Baptist

No	14
Date of Notice	14 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Dunn	Emily Hoskin
BDM Match (61%)	William James Dunn	Emily Hoskin
	💍 1913/6014
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	33	42
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	3 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Mr. Wyatt's, Otaki St, Kaiapoi
Folio	13/5699
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Harold Garard Goring, Baptist

28 August 1913

Henry Philip Ellenberger
Elsie Pearl Radford

Henry Philip Ellenburger
Elsie Pearl Radford
💍 1913/8143

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
21

Kaiapoi
Ohoka

29 years
21 years

Residence of Mrs. Lord, Ohoka

7833

28 August 1913

Rev. Joseph Fred Martin, Methodist

No	15
Date of Notice	28 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Philip Ellenberger	Elsie Pearl Radford
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Philip Ellenburger	Elsie Pearl Radford
	💍 1913/8143
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Ohoka
Length of Residence	29 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Lord, Ohoka
Folio	7833
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Fred Martin, Methodist

23 September 1913

Frank Fowler
Ethel Mildred Cherry

Frank Fowler
Ethel Mildred Cherry
💍 1913/6013

Bachelor
Spinster

Stableman
Household duties

23
19

Kaiapoi
East Eyreton

23 years
19 years

St. Thomas Church of England, East Eyreton

13/5696

Emily A Cherry, mother

23 September 1913

Rev. Thomas A. Fraser, Church of England

No	16
Date of Notice	23 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Fowler	Ethel Mildred Cherry
	💍 1913/6013
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stableman	Household duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	East Eyreton
Length of Residence	23 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas Church of England, East Eyreton
Folio	13/5696
Consent	Emily A Cherry, mother
Date of Certificate	23 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas A. Fraser, Church of England

26 September 1913

Thomas Felix Erickson
Alice Maud May Sharp

Thomas Felix Erickson
Alice Maud May Sharp
💍 1913/5882

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

28
35

Kaiapoi
Halswell

3 months
4 years

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

13/5640

26 September 1913

Rev. F. Tait, Presbyterian, Christchurch

No	17
Date of Notice	26 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Felix Erickson	Alice Maud May Sharp
	💍 1913/5882
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	28	35
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Halswell
Length of Residence	3 months	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/5640
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Tait, Presbyterian, Christchurch

26 September 1913

George Shepherd Hawkins
Ivy May Bugg

George Shepherd Hawkins
Ivy May Bugg
💍 1913/8704

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Domestic

23
20

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

3 days
20 years

Mr. Bugg's residence, Fuller St., Kaiapoi

8547

Sarah Bugg, mother

26 September 1913

Rev. Arthur Mitchell, Wesleyan

No	18
Date of Notice	26 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Shepherd Hawkins	Ivy May Bugg
	💍 1913/8704
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Domestic
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Bugg's residence, Fuller St., Kaiapoi
Folio	8547
Consent	Sarah Bugg, mother
Date of Certificate	26 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arthur Mitchell, Wesleyan

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).