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 963

District of Winton Quarter ending 30 September 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

156

15 July 1913

James Kennedy
Annie McDonald

James Kennedy
Annie McDonald
💍 1913/5167

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
18

Bentue Bush
Bentue Bush

9 years
5 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages Winton

13/4822

Hugh McDonald, father

16 July 1913

I. G. Russell, Registrar

No	156
Date of Notice	15 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kennedy	Annie McDonald
	💍 1913/5167
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Bentue Bush	Bentue Bush
Length of Residence	9 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages Winton
Folio	13/4822
Consent	Hugh McDonald, father
Date of Certificate	16 July 1913
Officiating Minister	I. G. Russell, Registrar

157

22 July 1913

John Weegan
Jessie McRae

John Deegan
Jessie McRae
💍 1913/6585

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

46
28

Drummond
Gummies Bush

3 years
4 years

Roman Catholic Church Riverton

13/6346

22 July 1913

Rev. Murphy

No	157
Date of Notice	22 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Weegan	Jessie McRae
BDM Match (95%)	John Deegan	Jessie McRae
	💍 1913/6585
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	46	28
Dwelling Place	Drummond	Gummies Bush
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Riverton
Folio	13/6346
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Murphy

158

6 August 1913

Edward Allen
Lucy Rizzi

Edward Allen
Lucy Riggi
💍 1913/6300

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer
Domestic duties

24
20

Fernhills
Fernhills

3 days
2 years

Presbyterian Church Fernhills

13/5970

Antonio Rizzi, Father

6 August 1913

Rev. John Miller

No	158
Date of Notice	6 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Allen	Lucy Rizzi
BDM Match (90%)	Edward Allen	Lucy Riggi
	💍 1913/6300
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer	Domestic duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Fernhills	Fernhills
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Fernhills
Folio	13/5970
Consent	Antonio Rizzi, Father
Date of Certificate	6 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Miller

159

8 August 1913

William Edward Crowe
Ellen Teresa O'Halloran

William Edward Crowe
Ellen Terese O'Halloran
💍 1913/6145

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

30
24

South Hillend
Invercargill

30 years
6 years

Roman Catholic Church Invercargill

13/5850

8 August 1913

Rev. W. Burke

No	159
Date of Notice	8 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward Crowe	Ellen Teresa O'Halloran
BDM Match (98%)	William Edward Crowe	Ellen Terese O'Halloran
	💍 1913/6145
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	South Hillend	Invercargill
Length of Residence	30 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Invercargill
Folio	13/5850
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Burke

160

11 August 1913

Thomas Alexander Hazlett
Mary Louisa Hamilton

Thomas Alexander Hartlett
Mary Louisa Hamilton
💍 1913/6200

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

31
21

South Hillend
Riverside Winton

31 years
21 years

House of James Hamilton, Riverside Winton

13/5884

11 August 1913

Rev. R. Mackie

No	160
Date of Notice	11 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Alexander Hazlett	Mary Louisa Hamilton
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Alexander Hartlett	Mary Louisa Hamilton
	💍 1913/6200
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	South Hillend	Riverside Winton
Length of Residence	31 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of James Hamilton, Riverside Winton
Folio	13/5884
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie

161

20 September 1913

Andrew Stevens
Florence Lewis Brooks

Andrew Stevens
Florence Lewis Brooks
💍 1913/6083

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

33
23

Winton
Winton

5 years
3 years

Residence of Mrs J. B. Porteous, Winton

13/5837

20 September 1913

Rev. R. Mackie

No	161
Date of Notice	20 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Stevens	Florence Lewis Brooks
	💍 1913/6083
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs J. B. Porteous, Winton
Folio	13/5837
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie

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).