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 692

District of Naseby Quarter ending 30 June 1913 Registrar Robert Peebles

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

1 April 1913

Alfred Vincent Arthur
Adelina Messent

Alfred Vincent Arthur
Adelina Messent
💍 1913/4340

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
22

Ida Valley
Wedderburn

3 Days
22 years

House of Brides Father, Wedderburn

13/3917

1 April 1913

Wm Fleming

No	4
Date of Notice	1 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Vincent Arthur	Adelina Messent
	💍 1913/4340
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Ida Valley	Wedderburn
Length of Residence	3 Days	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Brides Father, Wedderburn
Folio	13/3917
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Wm Fleming

8 April 1913

Jesse Mace Maisey
Edith Maud Hore

Jesse Mace Maisey Crutchley
Edith Maud Hore
💍 1913/4209

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
24

Wedderburn
Kyeburn

29 years
24 years

Residence of R. R. Hore, Mt Ida Farm Dwelling, Kyeburn

13/3759

8 April 1913

Rev D Rankin

No	5
Date of Notice	8 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jesse Mace Maisey	Edith Maud Hore
BDM Match (82%)	Jesse Mace Maisey Crutchley	Edith Maud Hore
	💍 1913/4209
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Wedderburn	Kyeburn
Length of Residence	29 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of R. R. Hore, Mt Ida Farm Dwelling, Kyeburn
Folio	13/3759
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev D Rankin

17 April 1913

Francis Gordon Rogers
Margaret Rogers

Francis Gordon
Margaret Rogers
💍 1913/6581

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Waitress

22
22

Naseby
Naseby

1 year
6 months

Roman Catholic Church, Naseby

13/6194

17 April 1913

Rev W. A. McMillan

No	6
Date of Notice	17 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Gordon Rogers	Margaret Rogers
BDM Match (83%)	Francis Gordon	Margaret Rogers
	💍 1913/6581
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Waitress
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Naseby	Naseby
Length of Residence	1 year	6 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Naseby
Folio	13/6194
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev W. A. McMillan

21 April 1913

Malcolm McCorkindale
Emma Jane Coppell

Malcolm McCorkindale
Emma Jane Coppell
💍 1913/4342

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright
Domestic Duties

27
27

Lawrence
Ranfurly

27 years
6 months

House of A. W. Coppell, Ranfurly

13/3919

21 April 1913

Rev E. Adams

No	7
Date of Notice	21 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Malcolm McCorkindale	Emma Jane Coppell
	💍 1913/4342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright	Domestic Duties
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Ranfurly
Length of Residence	27 years	6 months
Marriage Place	House of A. W. Coppell, Ranfurly
Folio	13/3919
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev E. Adams

22 April 1913

Robert Allison
Mary Lavinia McLean

Robert Allison
Mary Lavinia McLean
💍 1913/4341

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
22

Ranfurly
Ranfurly

29 years
22 years

House of Brides Father, Ranfurly

13/3918

22 April 1913

Rev E. Adams

No	8
Date of Notice	22 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Allison	Mary Lavinia McLean
	💍 1913/4341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Ranfurly	Ranfurly
Length of Residence	29 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Brides Father, Ranfurly
Folio	13/3918
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev E. Adams

22 April 1913

Sydney Albert Salt
Ivy May Lawer

Sydney Albert Salt
Ivy May Lawer
💍 1913/4210

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

22
18

Pigeon Bay
Naseby

22 years
18 years

St George's Church, Naseby

13/3760

22 April 1913

Rev D Rankin

No	9
Date of Notice	22 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Albert Salt	Ivy May Lawer
	💍 1913/4210
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Pigeon Bay	Naseby
Length of Residence	22 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St George's Church, Naseby
Folio	13/3760
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev D Rankin

9 June 1913

William Henry Kirkby
Helen Mills Forrester

William Henry Kirkley
Helen Mills Forrester
💍 1913/4232

Bachelor
Spinster

General Merchant
Household Duties

33
21

Ranfurly
Ranfurly

17 years
21 years

House of John Forrester, Ranfurly

13/3758

9 June 1913

Rev E Adams

No	10
Date of Notice	9 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Kirkby	Helen Mills Forrester
BDM Match (95%)	William Henry Kirkley	Helen Mills Forrester
	💍 1913/4232
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	General Merchant	Household Duties
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Ranfurly	Ranfurly
Length of Residence	17 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of John Forrester, Ranfurly
Folio	13/3758
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev E Adams

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).