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 914

District of Mataura Quarter ending 31 December 1913 Registrar Archibald Dept

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

461

4 November 1913

George Wilson
Euphemia McKay

George Wilson
Euphimia McKay
💍 1913/8310

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

30
33

Hedgehope
Hedgehope

2 years
33 years

Residence of bride's Father, W.S. McKay, Hedgehope

8075

4 November 1913

Rev. Henry E. Rutledge

No	461
Date of Notice	4 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wilson	Euphemia McKay
BDM Match (96%)	George Wilson	Euphimia McKay
	💍 1913/8310
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	33
Dwelling Place	Hedgehope	Hedgehope
Length of Residence	2 years	33 years
Marriage Place	Residence of bride's Father, W.S. McKay, Hedgehope
Folio	8075
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry E. Rutledge

462

11 November 1913

Owen Chamberlain
Louisa Florence Hill

Owen Chamberlain
Louisa Florence Hill
💍 1913/8766

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Machinist

21
22

Mataura
Mataura

26 years
4 years

Church of England, Mataura

8595

11 November 1913

Rev. A. Wingfield, Church of England

No	462
Date of Notice	11 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Owen Chamberlain	Louisa Florence Hill
	💍 1913/8766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Machinist
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	26 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Mataura
Folio	8595
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Wingfield, Church of England

463

22 December 1913

Archibald Crawford Speir
Annie Campbell

Archibald Crawford Speirs
Annie Campbell
💍 1913/8288

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic

26
31

Mataura
Mataura

2 months
6 days

Presbyterian Manse, Mataura

8053

22 December 1913

Rev. W.W. Brown, Presbyterian Minister

No	463
Date of Notice	22 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Crawford Speir	Annie Campbell
BDM Match (98%)	Archibald Crawford Speirs	Annie Campbell
	💍 1913/8288
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic
Age	26	31
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	2 months	6 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Mataura
Folio	8053
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W.W. Brown, Presbyterian Minister

464

29 December 1913

James Young
Jane Dougherty

James Young
Jane Dougherty
💍 1913/7052

Bachelor
Widow

Engine Driver
House wife

54
49

Mataura
Mataura

30 years
30 years

Registrar's Office, Mataura

13/6776

29 December 1913

Dept. Registrar, Mataura

No	464
Date of Notice	29 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Young	Jane Dougherty
	💍 1913/7052
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Engine Driver	House wife
Age	54	49
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	30 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Mataura
Folio	13/6776
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Dept. Registrar, Mataura

465

29 December 1913

William James Hayles
Theresa Murray

William James Hayles
Theresa Murray
💍 1914/8215

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic

28
23

Mataura
Mataura

5 years
8 years

St. Lawrence's Roman Catholic Church, Mataura

1807

29 December 1913

Rev. Fr. P. O'Donnell (Gore), Roman Catholic Priest

No	465
Date of Notice	29 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Hayles	Theresa Murray
	💍 1914/8215
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	5 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Lawrence's Roman Catholic Church, Mataura
Folio	1807
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Fr. P. O'Donnell (Gore), Roman Catholic Priest

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).