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 762

District of Tokomairiro Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar P D Maguire

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

27 January 1913

James Andrew Madden
Margaret Turnbull

James Andrew Madden
Margaret Turnbull
💍 1913/2484

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dom Duties

21
27

Milton
Milton

3 Days
3 Days

Roman Catholic Church, Milton

13/2028

27 January 1913

Rev M Howard

No	1
Date of Notice	27 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Andrew Madden	Margaret Turnbull
	💍 1913/2484
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dom Duties
Age	21	27
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	3 Days	3 Days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Milton
Folio	13/2028
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev M Howard

27 January 1913

Samuel Williamson Strang
Ivy Annie Marryatt

Samuel Williamson Strang
Ivy Annie Marryatt
💍 1913/2246

Bachelor
Spinster

Law Clerk
Schoolteacher

23
23

Milton
Milton

5 Days
20 Yrs

St Johns Anglican, Milton

13/1762

27 January 1913

Rev J C Small

No	2
Date of Notice	27 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Williamson Strang	Ivy Annie Marryatt
	💍 1913/2246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Law Clerk	Schoolteacher
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	5 Days	20 Yrs
Marriage Place	St Johns Anglican, Milton
Folio	13/1762
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev J C Small

18 February 1913

William Rowley Cooper
Agnes Winter

William Rowley
Agnes Winter Cooper
💍 1913/2248

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

30
21

Milburn
Milburn

5 Yrs
1 Year

Presbyterian Church, Milton

13/1764

18 February 1913

Rev I N Cuttle

No	3
Date of Notice	18 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Rowley Cooper	Agnes Winter
BDM Match (65%)	William Rowley	Agnes Winter Cooper
	💍 1913/2248
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Milburn	Milburn
Length of Residence	5 Yrs	1 Year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Milton
Folio	13/1764
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev I N Cuttle

24 February 1913

John Thomson Fraser
Agnes Hewitson Fraser

John Thomson
Agnes Hewitson Fraser
💍 1913/2247

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dom Duties

25
33

Lovells Flat
Stirling

9 Yrs
33 Yrs

House of Mr A Frasers

13/1763

24 February 1913

Rev A Morton

No	4
Date of Notice	24 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomson Fraser	Agnes Hewitson Fraser
BDM Match (82%)	John Thomson	Agnes Hewitson Fraser
	💍 1913/2247
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dom Duties
Age	25	33
Dwelling Place	Lovells Flat	Stirling
Length of Residence	9 Yrs	33 Yrs
Marriage Place	House of Mr A Frasers
Folio	13/1763
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev A Morton

1 March 1913

George Smith Sutton
Mary Ann Hyslop

George Smith Satton
Mary Ann Hyslop
💍 1913/2245

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dom Duties

41
31

Milton
Milton

5 Days
31 Yrs

House of Mrs R Hyslop, Milton

13/1761

1 March 1913

Rev G Miller

No	5
Date of Notice	1 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Smith Sutton	Mary Ann Hyslop
BDM Match (97%)	George Smith Satton	Mary Ann Hyslop
	💍 1913/2245
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dom Duties
Age	41	31
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	5 Days	31 Yrs
Marriage Place	House of Mrs R Hyslop, Milton
Folio	13/1761
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev G Miller

19 March 1913

John Alan Peattie
Catherine Clingan Fraser

John Alan Peattie
Catherine Clingan Fraser
💍 1913/2049

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dom Duties

28
34

Clarksville
Stirling

5 Days
10 Days

House of Mr R Peattie, Clarksville

13/1613

19 March 1913

Rev G Miller

No	6
Date of Notice	19 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alan Peattie	Catherine Clingan Fraser
	💍 1913/2049
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dom Duties
Age	28	34
Dwelling Place	Clarksville	Stirling
Length of Residence	5 Days	10 Days
Marriage Place	House of Mr R Peattie, Clarksville
Folio	13/1613
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev G Miller

19 March 1913

George Godsman Littlejohn
Jane McIntyre Moore

George Godsman Littlejohn
Jane McIntyre Moore
💍 1913/4318

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk
Bookkeeper

31
29

Milton
Milton

21 Yrs
29 Yrs

Presbyterian Church, Milton

13/3944

19 March 1913

Rev G Miller

No	7
Date of Notice	19 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Godsman Littlejohn	Jane McIntyre Moore
	💍 1913/4318
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk	Bookkeeper
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	21 Yrs	29 Yrs
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Milton
Folio	13/3944
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev G Miller

26 March 1913

John Littlejohn
Agnes McLean Clark

John Littlejohn
Agnes McLean Clark
💍 1913/2267

Widower
Spinster

Builder
Dressmaker

35
27

Milton
Moneymore

35 Yrs
27 Yrs

House of Mr D Clark, Moneymore

13/1759

26 March 1913

Rev A Morton

No	8
Date of Notice	26 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Littlejohn	Agnes McLean Clark
	💍 1913/2267
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Dressmaker
Age	35	27
Dwelling Place	Milton	Moneymore
Length of Residence	35 Yrs	27 Yrs
Marriage Place	House of Mr D Clark, Moneymore
Folio	13/1759
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev A Morton

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).