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 945

District of Riverton Quarter ending 30 June 1913 Registrar McNeile Gordon Macfarlane

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

893

1 April 1913

George Georgeson
Grace Southern

George Georgeson
Grace Southern
💍 1913/4412

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
School Mistress

29
24

Otautau
Waimatuku

3 days
24 years

In the private residence of Mr Walter Southern, Waimatuku

13/4014

1 April 1913

Rev. Alexander Macdonald, Presbyterian

No	893
Date of Notice	1 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Georgeson	Grace Southern
	💍 1913/4412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	School Mistress
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Otautau	Waimatuku
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	In the private residence of Mr Walter Southern, Waimatuku
Folio	13/4014
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Macdonald, Presbyterian

894

23 April 1913

Thomas Edwin Slaught
Annie Bussen

Thomas Edwin Slaughter
Annie Cussen
💍 1913/4427

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Surfaceman
Domestic Duties

23
25

Orepuki
Pahia

3 days
3 days

In the Presbyterian Church at Riverton

13/4005

23 April 1913

Rev. J.G. Hopdell, Presbyterian

No	894
Date of Notice	23 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Edwin Slaught	Annie Bussen
BDM Match (91%)	Thomas Edwin Slaughter	Annie Cussen
	💍 1913/4427
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Surfaceman	Domestic Duties
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Orepuki	Pahia
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church at Riverton
Folio	13/4005
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J.G. Hopdell, Presbyterian

895

26 April 1913

Thomas Edward Blondell
Elizabeth Jane Nebel

Thomas Edward Blondell
Elizabeth Jane Nekal
💍 1913/2790

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic Duties

41
35

Winton
South Riverton

3 days
3 years

At the office of the Registrar of Marriages at Riverton

13/2510

26 April 1913

J. McFarlane, Registrar

No	895
Date of Notice	26 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Edward Blondell	Elizabeth Jane Nebel
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Edward Blondell	Elizabeth Jane Nekal
	💍 1913/2790
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	41	35
Dwelling Place	Winton	South Riverton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages at Riverton
Folio	13/2510
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1913
Officiating Minister	J. McFarlane, Registrar

896

9 May 1913

Duncan James Campbell
Jane Isabella Holmes

Duncan James Campbell
Jane Isabella McInnes
💍 1913/4414

Bachelor
Spinster

Grazier
Tailoress

49
40

Victoria
Riverton

8 days
40 years

In the Presbyterian Church at Riverton

13/4016

9 May 1913

Rev. G.A. Gray, Presbyterian

No	896
Date of Notice	9 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan James Campbell	Jane Isabella Holmes
BDM Match (88%)	Duncan James Campbell	Jane Isabella McInnes
	💍 1913/4414
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grazier	Tailoress
Age	49	40
Dwelling Place	Victoria	Riverton
Length of Residence	8 days	40 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church at Riverton
Folio	13/4016
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. G.A. Gray, Presbyterian

897

31 May 1913

John Boyle (Junior)
Mary Geary

John Boyle
Mary Geary
💍 1913/4415

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

37
37

Heddon Bush
Riverton

37 years
37 years

In the Roman Catholic Church at Riverton

13/4017

31 May 1913

Rev. Patrick Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	897
Date of Notice	31 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Boyle (Junior)	Mary Geary
BDM Match (76%)	John Boyle	Mary Geary
	💍 1913/4415
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	37	37
Dwelling Place	Heddon Bush	Riverton
Length of Residence	37 years	37 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church at Riverton
Folio	13/4017
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Murphy, Roman Catholic

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).