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 262

District of Lyttelton Quarter ending 30 June 1913 Registrar Guy Norman Morris

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

2 April 1913

Harry Graham Duff
Hannah Maggie Isabel Barr

Harry Graham Duff
Hannah Maggie Isabel Barr
💍 1913/4025

Bachelor
Spinster

farmer
domestic

33
33

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

3 days
14 days

Residence of A. J. R. Barr, Lyttelton

13/3574

2 April 1913

Rev. T Tait

No	9
Date of Notice	2 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Graham Duff	Hannah Maggie Isabel Barr
	💍 1913/4025
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	farmer	domestic
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 days	14 days
Marriage Place	Residence of A. J. R. Barr, Lyttelton
Folio	13/3574
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T Tait

3 April 1913

Joseph Ernest Tibble
Lillian Martha Jones

Joseph Ernest Tibble
Lillian Martha Jones
💍 1913/4172

Bachelor
Spinster

labourer

22
19

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

3 years
19 years

Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton

13/3446

3 April 1913

Rev. C. Coates

No	10
Date of Notice	3 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Ernest Tibble	Lillian Martha Jones
	💍 1913/4172
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	labourer
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton
Folio	13/3446
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Coates

7 April 1913

Frank Emanuel Joblin
Annie Shea

Frank Emanuel Joblin
Annie Shea
💍 1913/4081

Bachelor
Spinster

horse driver
domestic

27
23

Lyttelton
154 Brougham St, Christchurch

2 years
10 days

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Christchurch

13/3604

7 April 1913

Rev. P. Cooney

No	11
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Emanuel Joblin	Annie Shea
	💍 1913/4081
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	horse driver	domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	154 Brougham St, Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	10 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Christchurch
Folio	13/3604
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Cooney

7 April 1913

Charles Benjamin Lewin
Louisa Lewin

Chalres Benjamin
Louisa Lewin
💍 1913/6351

Widower
Spinster

retired farmer

70
39

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

2 years
39 years

St. Saviour's Church, Lyttelton

13/6086

7 April 1913

Rev. E.E. Chambers

No	12
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Benjamin Lewin	Louisa Lewin
BDM Match (82%)	Chalres Benjamin	Louisa Lewin
	💍 1913/6351
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	retired farmer
Age	70	39
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	2 years	39 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Lyttelton
Folio	13/6086
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. E.E. Chambers

7 April 1913

Albert Edward Gill
Amelia Ellen Voyce

Albert Edward Gill
Amelia Ellen Voyer
💍 1913/6352

Bachelor
Spinster

railway-station master
tailoress

28
23

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

3 days
23 years

St. Saviour's Church, Lyttelton

13/6089

7 April 1913

Rev. E.E. Chambers

No	13
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Gill	Amelia Ellen Voyce
BDM Match (94%)	Albert Edward Gill	Amelia Ellen Voyer
	💍 1913/6352
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	railway-station master	tailoress
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Lyttelton
Folio	13/6089
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. E.E. Chambers

6 May 1913

Albert Michael Dombroski
Mary Selina Gellety

Albert Michael Dombroski
Mary Selina Gellety
💍 1913/4174

Bachelor
Spinster

farmer
domestic

24
32

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

4 days
32 years

Roman Catholic Church, Lyttelton

13/3748

6 May 1913

Rev. P. Cooney

No	14
Date of Notice	6 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Michael Dombroski	Mary Selina Gellety
	💍 1913/4174
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	farmer	domestic
Age	24	32
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	4 days	32 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Lyttelton
Folio	13/3748
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Cooney

31 May 1913

Greville Fry Smither
Gertrude Smith

Vreville Fry Smither
Gertrude Smith
💍 1913/4173

Bachelor
Spinster

railway porter
nurse

23
24

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

9 months
5 days

Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton

13/3747

31 May 1913

Rev. C. Coates

No	15
Date of Notice	31 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Greville Fry Smither	Gertrude Smith
BDM Match (98%)	Vreville Fry Smither	Gertrude Smith
	💍 1913/4173
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	railway porter	nurse
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	9 months	5 days
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton
Folio	13/3747
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Coates

7 June 1913

Edward John Heppelthwaite
Georgina McIvor

Edward John Heppelthwaite
Georgina McIvor
💍 1913/4171

Bachelor
Spinster

basketmaker
schoolteacher

32
33

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

3 days
6 days

Residence of W. Heppelthwaite, Lyttelton

13/3745

7 June 1913

Rev. B. F. Rothwell

No	16
Date of Notice	7 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Heppelthwaite	Georgina McIvor
	💍 1913/4171
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	basketmaker	schoolteacher
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Residence of W. Heppelthwaite, Lyttelton
Folio	13/3745
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. F. Rothwell

9 June 1913

Thomas Gallivan
Cecilia Genevieve Olsen

Thomas Gallavin
Cecilia Genevieve Olsen
💍 1913/2956

Bachelor
Spinster

gasfitter
tailoress

24
22

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

24 years
22 years

Registrar's Office, Lyttelton

13/2500

9 June 1913

G. N. Morris Registrar

No	17
Date of Notice	9 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Gallivan	Cecilia Genevieve Olsen
BDM Match (93%)	Thomas Gallavin	Cecilia Genevieve Olsen
	💍 1913/2956
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	gasfitter	tailoress
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	24 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Lyttelton
Folio	13/2500
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1913
Officiating Minister	G. N. Morris Registrar

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).