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 363

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 June 1913 Registrar Alexander Montgomery

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

John Thomas Stephen
Lilly Bradley

John Thomas Stephen
Lilly Bradley
💍 1913/3962

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Shop assistant

44 years
44 years

Timaru
Timaru

45 years
6 months

Residence of S. David, South St. Timaru

13/3537

14 June 1913

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	74
Date of Notice	14 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Stephen	Lilly Bradley
	💍 1913/3962
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Shop assistant
Age	44 years	44 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	45 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of S. David, South St. Timaru
Folio	13/3537
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

14 June 1913

Sidney Herbert Price
Christina Margaret Malcolmson

Sidney Herbert Price
Christina Margaret Malcolmson
💍 1913/3928

Bachelor
Spinster

Departmental manager, Grocer etc.
Lady's Maid

29 years
30 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

Trinity Presbyterian Church, Timaru

13/3479

14 June 1913

Rev. J. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	75
Date of Notice	14 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Herbert Price	Christina Margaret Malcolmson
	💍 1913/3928
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Departmental manager, Grocer etc.	Lady's Maid
Age	29 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Trinity Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	13/3479
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

14 June 1913

Lionel George Clase
Miriam Jessie Sinclair

Lionel George Clare
Miriam Jessie Sinclair
💍 1913/3963

Divorced
Spinster

Shipping agent
Domestic duties

28 years
24 years

Gisborne
Timaru

10 years
6 months

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

13/3538

14 June 1913

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	76
Date of Notice	14 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lionel George Clase	Miriam Jessie Sinclair
BDM Match (97%)	Lionel George Clare	Miriam Jessie Sinclair
	💍 1913/3963
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Shipping agent	Domestic duties
Age	28 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Timaru
Length of Residence	10 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	13/3538
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

18 June 1913

Archibald Hutcheson Muir
Cecelia Adelaide Miles

Archibald Hutchison Muir
Cecilia Adelaide Miles
💍 1913/3951

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

45 years
30 years

Timaru
Timaru

4 days
30 years

St. Mary's English Church, Timaru

13/3525

18 June 1913

Archdeacon Jacob, Church of England Clergyman

No	77
Date of Notice	18 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Hutcheson Muir	Cecelia Adelaide Miles
BDM Match (96%)	Archibald Hutchison Muir	Cecilia Adelaide Miles
	💍 1913/3951
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	45 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 days	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	13/3525
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Jacob, Church of England Clergyman

20 June 1913

John Brown
Lily Anne Gow

John Brown
Lily Anne Gow
💍 1913/4092

Bachelor
Spinster

Principal Queens Agricultural College
Domestic duties

30 years
22 years

Timaru
Timaru

4 weeks
22 years

Dwellinghouse of J. G. Gow Esq., Earncliff, Timaru

13/3642

20 June 1913

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	78
Date of Notice	20 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brown	Lily Anne Gow
	💍 1913/4092
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Principal Queens Agricultural College	Domestic duties
Age	30 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 weeks	22 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of J. G. Gow Esq., Earncliff, Timaru
Folio	13/3642
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

21 June 1913

Oswald Freush
Kathleen Baird

Oswald Fruish
Kathleen Baird
💍 1913/4093

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Waitress

21 years
22 years

Timaru
Timaru

2 years
22 years

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

13/3643

21 June 1913

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	79
Date of Notice	21 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oswald Freush	Kathleen Baird
BDM Match (92%)	Oswald Fruish	Kathleen Baird
	💍 1913/4093
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Waitress
Age	21 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	13/3643
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

21 June 1913

Hector Ichabod Keen
Marion Brown Young

Hector Ichabod Keen
Marion Brown Young
💍 1913/3964

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Domestic duties

29 years
24 years

Timaru
Timaru

10 years
24 years

Manse of Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Timaru

13/3539

21 June 1913

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	80
Date of Notice	21 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hector Ichabod Keen	Marion Brown Young
	💍 1913/3964
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Domestic duties
Age	29 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	10 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Manse of Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Timaru
Folio	13/3539
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

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).