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 967

District of Wyndham Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar M Stephenson

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

14 January 1913

Donald McGlashan
Jessie Smith

Donald McGlashan
Jessie Smith
💍 1913/2330

Robert Henderson Cardno
Jessie Smith
💍 1913/4600

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
27

Mataura Island
Mataura Island

3 days
11 years

Dwelling place of W. G. Smith, Mataura Island

13/1845

14 January 1913

Rev. D. Maclennan, Edendale

No	1
Date of Notice	14 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald McGlashan	Jessie Smith
	💍 1913/2330
BDM Match (61%)	Robert Henderson Cardno	Jessie Smith
	💍 1913/4600
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Mataura Island	Mataura Island
Length of Residence	3 days	11 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling place of W. G. Smith, Mataura Island
Folio	13/1845
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Maclennan, Edendale

29 January 1913

Harold Ernest Baker
Constance Elizabeth Marsh

Harold Ernest Porter
Constance Elizabeth Marsh
💍 1913/4736

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Agent
Domestic

25
24

Wyndham
Wyndham

8 years
17 years

Anglican Church, Wyndham

13/4363

29 January 1913

Rev. H. E. C. Blathwayt, Wyndham

No	2
Date of Notice	29 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Ernest Baker	Constance Elizabeth Marsh
BDM Match (90%)	Harold Ernest Porter	Constance Elizabeth Marsh
	💍 1913/4736
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Agent	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Wyndham	Wyndham
Length of Residence	8 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Wyndham
Folio	13/4363
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. C. Blathwayt, Wyndham

14 February 1913

Frederick Kibble
Betsy Jane Heath

Frederick Ridder
Betsy Jane Heath
💍 1913/4737

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
19

Wyndham
Mataura Island

9 years
14 years

The Residence of Mr. Thomas Heath, Mataura Island

13/4364

14 February 1913

Rev. H. E. C. Blathwayt, Wyndham

No	3
Date of Notice	14 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Kibble	Betsy Jane Heath
BDM Match (84%)	Frederick Ridder	Betsy Jane Heath
	💍 1913/4737
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Wyndham	Mataura Island
Length of Residence	9 years	14 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. Thomas Heath, Mataura Island
Folio	13/4364
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. C. Blathwayt, Wyndham

15 March 1913

William Mortimer
Elizabeth Mawdsley

William Mortimer
Elizabeth Mawdsley
💍 1913/2331

Bachelor
Spinster

Millowner
Domestic

25
23

Edendale
Edendale

4 years
5 years

The Residence of Mr. Thomas Mawdsley, Edendale

13/1846

15 March 1913

Rev. D. Maclennan, Edendale

No	4
Date of Notice	15 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Mortimer	Elizabeth Mawdsley
	💍 1913/2331
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Millowner	Domestic
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Edendale	Edendale
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. Thomas Mawdsley, Edendale
Folio	13/1846
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Maclennan, Edendale

15 March 1913

Ernest Frame
Lily Williamson

Ernest Frame
Lily Williamson
💍 1913/2332

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
21

Menzies Ferry
Redan

6 years
9 years

The Residence of Mr. John Williamson, Redan

13/1847

15 March 1913

Rev. D. Maclennan, Edendale

No	5
Date of Notice	15 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Frame	Lily Williamson
	💍 1913/2332
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Menzies Ferry	Redan
Length of Residence	6 years	9 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. John Williamson, Redan
Folio	13/1847
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Maclennan, Edendale

15 March 1913

William Carswell
Elizabeth Jane Campbell

William Carswell
Elizabeth Jane Campbell
💍 1913/2517

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant
Domestic

36
30

Invercargill
South Wyndham

2 years
Life

The Presbyterian Church, Wyndham

13/086

15 March 1913

Rev. W. Wright, Wyndham

No	6
Date of Notice	15 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Carswell	Elizabeth Jane Campbell
	💍 1913/2517
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant	Domestic
Age	36	30
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	South Wyndham
Length of Residence	2 years	Life
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Wyndham
Folio	13/086
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Wright, Wyndham

18 March 1913

James Donaldson
Helen Haswell

James Donaldson
Helen Haswell Alexander
💍 1913/8803

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman
Cook

23
26

Edendale
Edendale

1 1/2 years
4 months

The Presbyterian Church, Edendale

13/1848

18 March 1913

Rev. D. Maclennan, Edendale

No	7
Date of Notice	18 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Donaldson	Helen Haswell
BDM Match (78%)	James Donaldson	Helen Haswell Alexander
	💍 1913/8803
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman	Cook
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Edendale	Edendale
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	4 months
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Edendale
Folio	13/1848
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Maclennan, Edendale

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).