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 959

District of Winton Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar I. G. Russell

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

149

18 January 1913

John Cairns
Mary Theresa Langford

John Cairns
Mary Teresa Langford
💍 1913/2325

John Parker
Mary Ann Langford
💍 1913/5417

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

28
27

South Hillend
South Hillend

3 days
2 years

House of Mr Francis Langford, South Hillend

13/184

18 January 1913

Rev P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

No	149
Date of Notice	18 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cairns	Mary Theresa Langford
BDM Match (98%)	John Cairns	Mary Teresa Langford
	💍 1913/2325
BDM Match (61%)	John Parker	Mary Ann Langford
	💍 1913/5417
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	South Hillend	South Hillend
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Francis Langford, South Hillend
Folio	13/184
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

150

13 March 1913

Charles Edward Tippett
Mary May Rizzi

Charles Edward Tippett
Mary May Rizzie
💍 1913/2329

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

26
22

Fernhills
Fernhills

2 years
8 years

House of Mr Antonis Rizzi, Fernhills

13/184

13 March 1913

Rev R. Mackie, Presbyterian

No	150
Date of Notice	13 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Tippett	Mary May Rizzi
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Edward Tippett	Mary May Rizzie
	💍 1913/2329
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Fernhills	Fernhills
Length of Residence	2 years	8 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Antonis Rizzi, Fernhills
Folio	13/184
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev R. Mackie, Presbyterian

151

13 March 1913

George William Cleland
Catherine Jane Thomson

George William Cleland
Catherine Jane Thomson
💍 1913/2327

George William Harding
Maria Eliza Thomson
💍 1914/7034

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
24

Winton
Winton

4 days
24 years

House of Mr Thomas Thomson, Meadowlea, Winton

13/184

13 March 1913

Rev R. Mackie, Presbyterian

No	151
Date of Notice	13 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Cleland	Catherine Jane Thomson
	💍 1913/2327
BDM Match (61%)	George William Harding	Maria Eliza Thomson
	💍 1914/7034
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	4 days	24 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Thomas Thomson, Meadowlea, Winton
Folio	13/184
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev R. Mackie, Presbyterian

152

17 March 1913

William Forrest
Annie Scharfe

William Zwies
Annie Scharfe
💍 1913/934

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

38
18

Browns
Winton

15 years
3 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Winton

13/341

Auguste Scharfe, mother

17 March 1913

I. G. Russell, Registrar

No	152
Date of Notice	17 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Forrest	Annie Scharfe
BDM Match (83%)	William Zwies	Annie Scharfe
	💍 1913/934
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	38	18
Dwelling Place	Browns	Winton
Length of Residence	15 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Winton
Folio	13/341
Consent	Auguste Scharfe, mother
Date of Certificate	17 March 1913
Officiating Minister	I. G. Russell, Registrar

153

19 March 1913

Adam Hamilton McDonald
Mary Ann McDonald

Adam Hamilton
Mary Ann McDonald
💍 1913/2324

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant
Domestic duties

32
30

Winton
Lora Gorge, Hokomui

32 years
30 years

House of Mr Christopher McDonald, Lora Gorge, Hokomui

13/1840

19 March 1913

Rev A. K. Ross, Presbyterian

No	153
Date of Notice	19 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Hamilton McDonald	Mary Ann McDonald
BDM Match (80%)	Adam Hamilton	Mary Ann McDonald
	💍 1913/2324
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant	Domestic duties
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Winton	Lora Gorge, Hokomui
Length of Residence	32 years	30 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Christopher McDonald, Lora Gorge, Hokomui
Folio	13/1840
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev A. K. Ross, Presbyterian

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).