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 482

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

123

3 March 1913

Edward Francis Henry Cain
Thirza Louisa Bull

Edward Francis Henry Cain
Thyrza Louisa Bull
💍 1913/4519

Bachelor
Spinster

winch-driver

24
25

Dunedin
Anderson's Bay

3 days
1 year

In the house of Mr Walter Bull, Anderson's Bay

13/4170

3 March 1913

P.W. Fairclough

No	123
Date of Notice	3 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Francis Henry Cain	Thirza Louisa Bull
BDM Match (97%)	Edward Francis Henry Cain	Thyrza Louisa Bull
	💍 1913/4519
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	winch-driver
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Anderson's Bay
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Walter Bull, Anderson's Bay
Folio	13/4170
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1913
Officiating Minister	P.W. Fairclough

124

3 March 1913

Stephen Oliver Battersby
Helen Elizabeth Andrews

Stephen Oliver Battersley
Helen Elizabeth Andrews
💍 1913/2424

Bachelor
Spinster

estate agent
clerk

27
27

Dunedin
Kyeburn Station

4 years
19 years

Kyeburn Station, Kyeburn

13/1891

3 March 1913

E. Adams

No	124
Date of Notice	3 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Oliver Battersby	Helen Elizabeth Andrews
BDM Match (96%)	Stephen Oliver Battersley	Helen Elizabeth Andrews
	💍 1913/2424
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	estate agent	clerk
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Kyeburn Station
Length of Residence	4 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Kyeburn Station, Kyeburn
Folio	13/1891
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1913
Officiating Minister	E. Adams

125

3 March 1913

Thomas Bastion
Agnes Coulter

Thomas Bastion
Agnes Coulter
💍 1913/2739

Widower
Spinster

labourer

40
36

Dunedin
Dunedin

8 months
8 years

In the house of Mr J. Mooney, Black's Road, North East Valley

13/1701

3 March 1913

G. Heighway

No	125
Date of Notice	3 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Bastion	Agnes Coulter
	💍 1913/2739
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	labourer
Age	40	36
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 months	8 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J. Mooney, Black's Road, North East Valley
Folio	13/1701
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1913
Officiating Minister	G. Heighway

126

4 March 1913

Allan Waite
Mabel Clarke Taylor

Allan Waite
Mabel Clarke Taylor
💍 1913/2053

Bachelor
Spinster

carpenter

25
24

Mornington
Mornington

25 years
13 years

In the house of Mr F. Waite, Hawthorne Avenue, Mornington

13/1617

4 March 1913

J.W. Vealie

No	126
Date of Notice	4 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Waite	Mabel Clarke Taylor
	💍 1913/2053
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	carpenter
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	25 years	13 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr F. Waite, Hawthorne Avenue, Mornington
Folio	13/1617
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1913
Officiating Minister	J.W. Vealie

127

4 March 1913

John Alfred Cook
Margaret Helmore Gould

John Alfred Cook
Margaret Helmore Gould
💍 1913/2127

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister-at-Law

59
32

Dunedin
Dunedin

40 years
5 years

In St Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin

13/1592

4 March 1913

H.G. Gould

No	127
Date of Notice	4 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alfred Cook	Margaret Helmore Gould
	💍 1913/2127
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister-at-Law
Age	59	32
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	40 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In St Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	13/1592
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1913
Officiating Minister	H.G. Gould

128

5 March 1913

Christopher Robinson
Mary Hill

Christopher Robinson
Mary Hill
💍 1913/2761

Bachelor
Spinster

farmer

27
32

Green Island
Green Island

3 days
22 years

In the Primitive Methodist Church, South Dunedin

13/1707

5 March 1913

E. Bandy

No	128
Date of Notice	5 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher Robinson	Mary Hill
	💍 1913/2761
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	farmer
Age	27	32
Dwelling Place	Green Island	Green Island
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	In the Primitive Methodist Church, South Dunedin
Folio	13/1707
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1913
Officiating Minister	E. Bandy

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).