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 260

District of Lyttelton Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar William Dryburgh Wallace

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

15 January 1913

William John Burns
Mary Williams

William John Burns
Mary Williams
💍 1913/1995

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Dressmaker

41
39

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

41 years
30 years

The Roman Catholic Church, Lyttelton

13/1484

15 January 1913

Rev. P. Cooney (Roman Catholic)

No	1
Date of Notice	15 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Burns	Mary Williams
	💍 1913/1995
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Dressmaker
Age	41	39
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	41 years	30 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Lyttelton
Folio	13/1484
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Cooney (Roman Catholic)

21 January 1913

Joseph Francis Yeo Griffiths
Alma Cecilia Selander

Joseph Francis Yeo Griffiths
Alma Cecilia Selander
💍 1913/1999

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Domestic servant

26
18

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

11 years
18 years

The residence of Charles Oscar Selander, Hawkhurst Road, Lyttelton

13/1488

Charles Oscar Selander (father)

21 January 1913

Rev. B. M. Rothwell (Methodist)

No	2
Date of Notice	21 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Francis Yeo Griffiths	Alma Cecilia Selander
	💍 1913/1999
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Domestic servant
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	11 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Charles Oscar Selander, Hawkhurst Road, Lyttelton
Folio	13/1488
Consent	Charles Oscar Selander (father)
Date of Certificate	21 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. M. Rothwell (Methodist)

4 February 1913

Frederick Roberton
Adelaide Austin

Frederick Robertson
Adelaide Austin
💍 1913/1996

Bachelor
Spinster

Confectioner
Dressmaker

23
25

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

12 months
14 days

Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton

13/1485

24 February 1913

Rev. C. Coates (Anglican)

No	3
Date of Notice	4 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Roberton	Adelaide Austin
BDM Match (97%)	Frederick Robertson	Adelaide Austin
	💍 1913/1996
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Confectioner	Dressmaker
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	12 months	14 days
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton
Folio	13/1485
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Coates (Anglican)

6 February 1913

Harold Kirby Banks
Kathleen Margaret Somerset

Harold Kirby Banks
Kathleen Margaret Somerset
💍 1913/950

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Domestic duties

36
26

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

14 days
14 days

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Lyttelton

13/333

6 February 1913

A. Addison, Deputy Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	6 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Kirby Banks	Kathleen Margaret Somerset
	💍 1913/950
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Domestic duties
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	14 days	14 days
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Lyttelton
Folio	13/333
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1913
Officiating Minister	A. Addison, Deputy Registrar

25 February 1913

George Patrick Finn
Elizabeth Kirkness

George Patrick Finn
Elizabeth Kirkness
💍 1913/951

Bachelor
Spinster

Greaser
Domestic duties

29
20

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

4 years
7 months

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Lyttelton

13/334

25 February 1913

A. Addison, Deputy Registrar

No	5
Date of Notice	25 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Patrick Finn	Elizabeth Kirkness
	💍 1913/951
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Greaser	Domestic duties
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	4 years	7 months
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Lyttelton
Folio	13/334
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1913
Officiating Minister	A. Addison, Deputy Registrar

25 February 1913

Thomas Hendry
Jennie Hulme

Thomas Hendoy
Jennie Hulme
💍 1913/1979

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

33
21

Lyttelton
Christchurch

6 years
18 years

The residence of the Bride's parents, Canal Reserve, Christchurch

13/1468

25 February 1913

Rev. J. Dargan (Congregational)

No	6
Date of Notice	25 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hendry	Jennie Hulme
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Hendoy	Jennie Hulme
	💍 1913/1979
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The residence of the Bride's parents, Canal Reserve, Christchurch
Folio	13/1468
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Dargan (Congregational)

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).