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 769

District of Tokomairiro Quarter ending 31 December 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

18 October 1913

David Wilson
Ellen Mary Dobbie

David Wilson
Ellen Mary Dobbie
💍 1913/8362

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Household Duties

34
24

Clarendon
Clarendon

3 days
24 years

House of Mr H M Driver, Clarendon

8127

18 October 1913

Rev J C Small

No	20
Date of Notice	18 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Wilson	Ellen Mary Dobbie
	💍 1913/8362
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Household Duties
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Clarendon	Clarendon
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr H M Driver, Clarendon
Folio	8127
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev J C Small

3 November 1913

Christopher John Robinson
Mary Lillian Willcock

Christopher John Robinson
Mabel Lillian Willcocks
💍 1913/8252

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
20

Clarksville
Milburn

26 years
2 years

House of Mr G Willcock, Milburn

8018

George Willcock, Father

3 November 1913

Rev G Miller

No	21
Date of Notice	3 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher John Robinson	Mary Lillian Willcock
BDM Match (91%)	Christopher John Robinson	Mabel Lillian Willcocks
	💍 1913/8252
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Clarksville	Milburn
Length of Residence	26 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr G Willcock, Milburn
Folio	8018
Consent	George Willcock, Father
Date of Certificate	3 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev G Miller

5 November 1913

Thomas Nevin Cuttle
Jessie Catherine Pilling

Thomas Nevin Cuttle
Jessie Catherine Pilling
💍 1913/8249

Bachelor
Spinster

Clergyman
Domestic Duties

35
22

Milburn
Milburn

2 years 9 months
4 years

Presbyterian Church

8015

5 November 1913

Rev G Miller

No	22
Date of Notice	5 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Nevin Cuttle	Jessie Catherine Pilling
	💍 1913/8249
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clergyman	Domestic Duties
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Milburn	Milburn
Length of Residence	2 years 9 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	8015
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev G Miller

5 November 1913

Alexander Wisely
Margaret Nicholason Williamson

Alexander Wisely
Margaret Nicholson Williamson
💍 1913/8250

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

33
28

Clarendon
Milton

9 years
28 years

Presbyterian Church

8016

5 November 1913

Rev G Miller

No	23
Date of Notice	5 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Wisely	Margaret Nicholason Williamson
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander Wisely	Margaret Nicholson Williamson
	💍 1913/8250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Clarendon	Milton
Length of Residence	9 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	8016
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev G Miller

26 November 1913

William Ferguson
Mary Brosnan

William Ferguson
Mary Brosnan
💍 1913/9101

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Dressmaker

33
34

Milton
Milton

33 years
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Milton

8655

26 November 1913

Rev P O'Leary

No	24
Date of Notice	26 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ferguson	Mary Brosnan
	💍 1913/9101
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Dressmaker
Age	33	34
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	33 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Milton
Folio	8655
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev P O'Leary

6 December 1913

Albert Edward Murray
Eliza Ethel Shutt

Albert Edward Murray
Eliza Ethel Skutt
💍 1913/9100

Bachelor
Spinster

Aerated Water Manufacturer
Domestic Duties

25
22

Milton
Milton

3 days
22 years

Methodist Church, Milton

8654

6 December 1913

Rev E D Patchett

No	25
Date of Notice	6 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Murray	Eliza Ethel Shutt
BDM Match (97%)	Albert Edward Murray	Eliza Ethel Skutt
	💍 1913/9100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Aerated Water Manufacturer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Milton
Folio	8654
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev E D Patchett

9 December 1913

James Powley
Mary Jane Kilner

James Powley
Mary Jane Kilner
💍 1913/8541

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

35
34

Milton
Milton

35 years
34 years

St Johns Church, Milton

8128

9 December 1913

Rev J C Small

No	26
Date of Notice	9 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Powley	Mary Jane Kilner
	💍 1913/8541
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	35 years	34 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Church, Milton
Folio	8128
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev J C Small

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).