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 570

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 December 1913 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

635

3 December 1913

George Bremner Smith
Janet Robertson Smith

George Bremner Smith
Janet Robertson
💍 1913/8229

Bachelor
Spinster

butcher

35
34

Green Island
Dunedin

30 years
5 years

In the Baptist Church, Main South Road, Caversham

7995

3 December 1913

C. Dallaston

No	635
Date of Notice	3 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Bremner Smith	Janet Robertson Smith
BDM Match (86%)	George Bremner Smith	Janet Robertson
	💍 1913/8229
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	butcher
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Green Island	Dunedin
Length of Residence	30 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Baptist Church, Main South Road, Caversham
Folio	7995
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 December 1913
Officiating Minister	C. Dallaston

636

4 December 1913

Martin Douglas Josephson
Ethel Rose Brady Josephson

Martin Douglas Josephson
Ethel Rose Brady
💍 1913/6904

Bachelor
Spinster

electrician

24
19

Dunedin
St. Kilda

2 years
5 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

13/6616

James Graham Brady, father

4 December 1913

H. Maxwell

No	636
Date of Notice	4 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin Douglas Josephson	Ethel Rose Brady Josephson
BDM Match (81%)	Martin Douglas Josephson	Ethel Rose Brady
	💍 1913/6904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	electrician
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	St. Kilda
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	13/6616
Consent	James Graham Brady, father
Date of Certificate	4 December 1913
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

637

4 December 1913

Matthew Waddell Leckie
Annabella Frame Leckie

Matthew Waddell Alexander Leckie
Annabella Frame
💍 1913/8873

Bachelor
Spinster

plumber

25
27

Dunedin
Dunedin

26 years
27 years

In the house of Mr. J. B. Frame, 33 Clyde Street, Dunedin

8353

4 December 1913

R. E. Davies

No	637
Date of Notice	4 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Waddell Leckie	Annabella Frame Leckie
BDM Match (69%)	Matthew Waddell Alexander Leckie	Annabella Frame
	💍 1913/8873
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	plumber
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	26 years	27 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. J. B. Frame, 33 Clyde Street, Dunedin
Folio	8353
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1913
Officiating Minister	R. E. Davies

638

4 December 1913

Oswald William Murphy Beckett
Ruby Kathleen Mary Silvi Beckett

Oswald William Murphy Beckett
Ruby Kathleen Mary Silvi
💍 1913/8483

Bachelor
Spinster

labourer

23
20

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 years
20 years

In the house of Mr. George Silvi, 62 Rockmont Terrace, Maclaggan Street, Dunedin

8298

George Silvi, father

4 December 1913

W. Corcoran

No	638
Date of Notice	4 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oswald William Murphy Beckett	Ruby Kathleen Mary Silvi Beckett
BDM Match (88%)	Oswald William Murphy Beckett	Ruby Kathleen Mary Silvi
	💍 1913/8483
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	labourer
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. George Silvi, 62 Rockmont Terrace, Maclaggan Street, Dunedin
Folio	8298
Consent	George Silvi, father
Date of Certificate	4 December 1913
Officiating Minister	W. Corcoran

639

4 December 1913

Allan Bruce Scott Gilmour
Margaret Anderson Gilmour

Bachelor
Spinster

plumber

27
26

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 years
15 years

In the house of Mr. W. S. Anderson, 32 Duke Street, Dunedin

7980

4 December 1913

H. B. Gray

No	639
Date of Notice	4 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Bruce Scott Gilmour	Margaret Anderson Gilmour
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	plumber
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. W. S. Anderson, 32 Duke Street, Dunedin
Folio	7980
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1913
Officiating Minister	H. B. Gray

640

4 December 1913

Adolphus James Burline
Ruby Ellen White Burline

Adolphus James Curline
Ruby Ellen White
💍 1913/6905

Bachelor
Spinster

musician

21
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

21 years
15 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

13/6617

4 December 1913

H. Maxwell

No	640
Date of Notice	4 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adolphus James Burline	Ruby Ellen White Burline
BDM Match (81%)	Adolphus James Curline	Ruby Ellen White
	💍 1913/6905
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	musician
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	21 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	13/6617
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1913
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

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).