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 672

District of Manuherikia Quarter ending 31 December 1913 Registrar L. A. Bott

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

16 October 1913

Campbell Hannan
Violet Jane Parker

Campbell Honnan
Violet Jane Parker
💍 1913/8464

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor agent
Domestic Duties

22
18

Alexandra South
Alexandra South

2 years
14 years

Dwelling house of Mr Wm Parker, Alexandra South

8256

William Parker, Father

16 October 1913

Rev F R Blue

No	2
Date of Notice	16 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Campbell Hannan	Violet Jane Parker
BDM Match (97%)	Campbell Honnan	Violet Jane Parker
	💍 1913/8464
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor agent	Domestic Duties
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Alexandra South	Alexandra South
Length of Residence	2 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr Wm Parker, Alexandra South
Folio	8256
Consent	William Parker, Father
Date of Certificate	16 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev F R Blue

12 November 1913

William Weir
Louisa Agnes Morris nee Buttress

William Weir
Louisa Agnes Morris
💍 1913/7048

Widower
Widow

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

39
36

Alexandra South
Alexandra South

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Alexandra South

13/6756

12 November 1913

L. A. Bott, Registrar

No	3
Date of Notice	12 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Weir	Louisa Agnes Morris nee Buttress
BDM Match (80%)	William Weir	Louisa Agnes Morris
	💍 1913/7048
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	39	36
Dwelling Place	Alexandra South	Alexandra South
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Alexandra South
Folio	13/6756
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 November 1913
Officiating Minister	L. A. Bott, Registrar

12 November 1913

James Campbell Buchanan
Janet Elizabeth Symons

James Campbell Buchanan
Janet Elizabeth Symons
💍 1913/8465

Bachelor
Spinster

Manager Water Races
Domestic Duties

37
27

Galloway, Alexandra South
Galloway, Alexandra South

3 days
27 years

Ferndale House, Galloway, Alexandra South

8257

12 November 1913

Rev F R Blue

No	4
Date of Notice	12 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Campbell Buchanan	Janet Elizabeth Symons
	💍 1913/8465
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manager Water Races	Domestic Duties
Age	37	27
Dwelling Place	Galloway, Alexandra South	Galloway, Alexandra South
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Ferndale House, Galloway, Alexandra South
Folio	8257
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev F R Blue

26 November 1913

James Alexander Johnston
Jennie Stewart

James Alexander Johnston
Jeannie Stewart
💍 1913/8466

James Lindsay
Jeannie Stewart
💍 1913/8333

Bachelor
Spinster

Surfaceman N.Z.R.
Domestic Duties

30
19

Alexandra South
Alexandra South

3 days
2 years

Private Residence of Mr Andrew Stewart

8258

Andrew Stewart, Father

26 November 1913

Rev F R Blue

No	5
Date of Notice	26 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alexander Johnston	Jennie Stewart
BDM Match (97%)	James Alexander Johnston	Jeannie Stewart
	💍 1913/8466
BDM Match (65%)	James Lindsay	Jeannie Stewart
	💍 1913/8333
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surfaceman N.Z.R.	Domestic Duties
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Alexandra South	Alexandra South
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Mr Andrew Stewart
Folio	8258
Consent	Andrew Stewart, Father
Date of Certificate	26 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev F R Blue

16 December 1913

Robert Baird Walker
Mary Ellen Iversen

Robert Baird Walker
Mary Ellen Iversen
💍 1913/8467

Bachelor
Spinster

Public Works Servant
Domestic Duties

27
22

Alexandra South
Earnscleugh

18 months
22 years

Presbyterian Church, Alexandra South

8259

16 December 1913

Rev F R Blue

No	6
Date of Notice	16 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Baird Walker	Mary Ellen Iversen
	💍 1913/8467
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Public Works Servant	Domestic Duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Alexandra South	Earnscleugh
Length of Residence	18 months	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Alexandra South
Folio	8259
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev F R Blue

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).