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 969

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 30 June 1913 Registrar J. A. Maclennan

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

22 May 1913

William Osborne Classtron
Jane Richardson

William Osborne Closs McKay
Jane Richardson
💍 1913/4417

William Robert White
Clara Richardson
💍 1914/8325

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic duties

28
29

Wanganui
Wanganui

Life
Life

The Presbyterian Church, Wanganui

13/4019

22 May 1913

Rev. A. Sanftes, Wanganui

No	8
Date of Notice	22 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Osborne Classtron	Jane Richardson
BDM Match (87%)	William Osborne Closs McKay	Jane Richardson
	💍 1913/4417
BDM Match (62%)	William Robert White	Clara Richardson
	💍 1914/8325
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic duties
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Wanganui
Folio	13/4019
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Sanftes, Wanganui

3 June 1913

George Adamson
Isabella McDougall

George Adamson
Isabella McDougal Aberdean
💍 1913/4574

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic

34
31

Oamaru
Edendale

4 years
4 years

The Residence of Mr. Daniel McDougall, Edendale

13/4050

3 June 1913

Rev. A. Sanftes, Wanganui

No	9
Date of Notice	3 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Adamson	Isabella McDougall
BDM Match (83%)	George Adamson	Isabella McDougal Aberdean
	💍 1913/4574
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic
Age	34	31
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Edendale
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. Daniel McDougall, Edendale
Folio	13/4050
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Sanftes, Wanganui

4 June 1913

William Casey
Alice Mary Duthie

William Casey
Alice Mary Duthie
💍 1913/6406

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

26
19

Kakanui
Mataura Island

3 weeks
4 years

The Catholic Church, Kakanui

13/4066

Brother Guardian

4 June 1913

Rev. V. O'Donnell, Gore

No	10
Date of Notice	4 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Casey	Alice Mary Duthie
	💍 1913/6406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Kakanui	Mataura Island
Length of Residence	3 weeks	4 years
Marriage Place	The Catholic Church, Kakanui
Folio	13/4066
Consent	Brother Guardian
Date of Certificate	4 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. V. O'Donnell, Gore

21 June 1913

Alexander Cochrane
Agnes McFarlane

Alexander Cochrane
Agnes McFarlane
💍 1913/4439

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
29

Edendale
Edendale

4 years
Life

The Residence of Mr. Daniel Mc Farlane, Edendale

13/4066

21 June 1913

Rev. J. Maclennan, Edendale

No	11
Date of Notice	21 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Cochrane	Agnes McFarlane
	💍 1913/4439
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Edendale	Edendale
Length of Residence	4 years	Life
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. Daniel Mc Farlane, Edendale
Folio	13/4066
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Maclennan, Edendale

24 June 1913

Alexander William McClelland
Emmeline Agnes Telfer

Alexander Wylie McChlery
Emmeline Agnes Telfer
💍 1913/4756

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

24
22

Orawia
Glenham

2 years
Life

The Presbyterian Church, Mataura Island

13/4359

24 June 1913

Rev. A. Sanftes, Wanganui

No	12
Date of Notice	24 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander William McClelland	Emmeline Agnes Telfer
BDM Match (82%)	Alexander Wylie McChlery	Emmeline Agnes Telfer
	💍 1913/4756
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Orawia	Glenham
Length of Residence	2 years	Life
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Mataura Island
Folio	13/4359
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Sanftes, Wanganui

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).