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 365

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 September 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

2 July 1913

Charles Alfred Robinson
Mary Knowles

Charles Alfred Robinson
Mary Knowles
💍 1913/8956

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Dressmaker

29
32

Timaru
Timaru

4 days
20 years

Residence of W. J. Knowles, Arthur St. Timaru

8461

2 July 1913

Rev. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

No	88
Date of Notice	2 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Alfred Robinson	Mary Knowles
	💍 1913/8956
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Dressmaker
Age	29	32
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. J. Knowles, Arthur St. Timaru
Folio	8461
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

4 July 1913

Thomas William Watson
Agnes Welsh Lyle

Morras William Watson
Agnes Welsh Lyle
💍 1913/8429

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Household duties

29
31

Timaru
Pleasant Point

24 years
28 years

Manse of Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell

8240

4 July 1913

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	89
Date of Notice	4 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Watson	Agnes Welsh Lyle
BDM Match (91%)	Morras William Watson	Agnes Welsh Lyle
	💍 1913/8429
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Household duties
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Pleasant Point
Length of Residence	24 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Manse of Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell
Folio	8240
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

8 July 1913

George Beverly Marten
Ellen Matheson

George Claverby Martin
Ellen Matteson
💍 1913/8428

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock & Commission Agent
Domestic duties

33
25

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
10 years

Chalmers Church, Timaru

8244

8 July 1913

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	90
Date of Notice	8 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Beverly Marten	Ellen Matheson
BDM Match (85%)	George Claverby Martin	Ellen Matteson
	💍 1913/8428
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock & Commission Agent	Domestic duties
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Church, Timaru
Folio	8244
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

11 July 1913

Richard Claude Stoneyer
Dorothy Frances Rebecca Layton

Richard Claude Stonyer
Dorothy Frances Rebecca Layton
💍 1913/8900

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Milliner

33
22

Esk Valley
Esk Valley

2 years
2 weeks

English Church, St. Andrews

8380

11 July 1913

Rev. L. B. Brady, Church of England Clergyman

No	91
Date of Notice	11 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Claude Stoneyer	Dorothy Frances Rebecca Layton
BDM Match (98%)	Richard Claude Stonyer	Dorothy Frances Rebecca Layton
	💍 1913/8900
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Milliner
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Esk Valley	Esk Valley
Length of Residence	2 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	English Church, St. Andrews
Folio	8380
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. B. Brady, Church of England Clergyman

12 July 1913

Charles Edward Passmore
Violet Geraldine Bradley

Charles Edward Passmore
Violet Geraldine Bradley
💍 1913/6170

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Weaver

32
21

Timaru
Timaru

3 months
3 years

Methodist Parsonage, Butler St. Timaru

13/5729

12 July 1913

Rev. L. Hudson, Methodist Minister

No	92
Date of Notice	12 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Passmore	Violet Geraldine Bradley
	💍 1913/6170
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Weaver
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage, Butler St. Timaru
Folio	13/5729
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Hudson, Methodist Minister

16 July 1913

William Francis David Rohu
Stella Rohu Te Pa

William Francis David Rehu
Stella Rehu-tepa
💍 1913/5177

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Household duties

25
25

Timaru
Timaru

2 years
2 years

Registrar's Office, Timaru

13/4809

16 July 1913

Alex. Montgomery, Registrar

No	93
Date of Notice	16 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Francis David Rohu	Stella Rohu Te Pa
BDM Match (83%)	William Francis David Rehu	Stella Rehu-tepa
	💍 1913/5177
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household duties
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	13/4809
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Alex. Montgomery, Registrar

28 July 1913

Archibald McCallum Fletcher
Jane Simpson Hewitson

Archibald McCallum Fletcher
Jane Simpson Hewitson
💍 1913/5154

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

30
35

Timaru
Timaru

16 days
16 days

Registrar's Office, Timaru

13/4810

28 July 1913

Alex. Montgomery, Registrar

No	94
Date of Notice	28 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald McCallum Fletcher	Jane Simpson Hewitson
	💍 1913/5154
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	30	35
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	16 days	16 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	13/4810
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Alex. Montgomery, 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).