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 609

District of Gabriels Quarter ending 31 March '.1913.' Registrar James Milne Adam

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

286

24 January '.1913.'

George Henry Martin
Jane Beaton

George Henry Martin
Jane Beaton
💍 1913/4777

Henry Greer
Jane Beaton
💍 1914/512

Widower
Spinster

Watchmaker
Domestic duties

36
27

Lawrence
Blue Spur

36 years
5 weeks

at the house of John Uren, Blue Spur

'.13.'/4130

24 January '.1913.'

Peter Calder Durward (Presbyterian)

No	286
Date of Notice	24 January '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Martin	Jane Beaton
	💍 1913/4777
BDM Match (68%)	Henry Greer	Jane Beaton
	💍 1914/512
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker	Domestic duties
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Blue Spur
Length of Residence	36 years	5 weeks
Marriage Place	at the house of John Uren, Blue Spur
Folio	'.13.'/4130
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Peter Calder Durward (Presbyterian)

287

29 January '.1913.'

Edgar Fowler
Bessie Isabel Bulfin

Edgar Fowler
Bessie Isabel Bulfin
💍 1913/2457

Bachelor
Spinster

Inspector of Stock
Domestic duties

47
32

Lawrence
Lawrence

3 days
32 years

at the Holy Trinity Church, Lawrence

'.13.'/2024

29 January '.1913.'

Thomas Wilson Kewley (Anglican)

No	287
Date of Notice	29 January '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Fowler	Bessie Isabel Bulfin
	💍 1913/2457
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Inspector of Stock	Domestic duties
Age	47	32
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	3 days	32 years
Marriage Place	at the Holy Trinity Church, Lawrence
Folio	'.13.'/2024
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Thomas Wilson Kewley (Anglican)

288

6 February '.1913.'

David Hunter Gare
Ethel May Gillon

David Hunter Gare
Ethel May Gillon
💍 1913/2456

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Tailoress

32
24

Warpore
Warpore

20 years
6 months

at the Church of England, Warpore

'.13.'/2023

6 February '.1913.'

Isaac Richards (Anglican)

No	288
Date of Notice	6 February '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Hunter Gare	Ethel May Gillon
	💍 1913/2456
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Tailoress
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Warpore	Warpore
Length of Residence	20 years	6 months
Marriage Place	at the Church of England, Warpore
Folio	'.13.'/2023
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Isaac Richards (Anglican)

289

10 February '.1913.'

Percy Burall Courtis
Annie Nicoll Black

Percy Burall Courtis
Annie Nicoll Black
💍 1913/4776

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist
Domestic duties

29
24

Lawrence
Lawrence

3 days
24 years

at the Presbyterian Church, Lawrence

'.13.'/4249

10 February '.1913.'

Peter Calder Durward (Presbyterian)

No	289
Date of Notice	10 February '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Burall Courtis	Annie Nicoll Black
	💍 1913/4776
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist	Domestic duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	at the Presbyterian Church, Lawrence
Folio	'.13.'/4249
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Peter Calder Durward (Presbyterian)

290

17 February '.1913.'

John Sullivan
Mary Clark

John Sullivan
Mary Clark
💍 1913/4775

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Dressmaker

24
25

Lawrence
Lawrence

3 days
11 years

at the house of Mrs Clark, Douglas St, Lawrence

'.13.'/4252

17 February '.1913.'

Peter Calder Durward (Presbyterian)

No	290
Date of Notice	17 February '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sullivan	Mary Clark
	💍 1913/4775
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Dressmaker
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	3 days	11 years
Marriage Place	at the house of Mrs Clark, Douglas St, Lawrence
Folio	'.13.'/4252
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Peter Calder Durward (Presbyterian)

291

24 March '.1913.'

Alexander Campbell
Amelia Davies

Alexander Campbell
Amelia Davies
💍 1913/4768

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

32
23

Lawrence
Lawrence

3 days
3 days

at the house of Neil Campbell, Wetherstones

'.13.'/4257

24 March '.1913.'

Peter Calder Durward (Presbyterian)

No	291
Date of Notice	24 March '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Campbell	Amelia Davies
	💍 1913/4768
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	at the house of Neil Campbell, Wetherstones
Folio	'.13.'/4257
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Peter Calder Durward (Presbyterian)

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).