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 353

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar Alexander Montgomery

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

25 January 1913

Thomas Dawkins
Mary Darcy

Thomas Dawkins
Mary Darcy
💍 1913/2099

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Mother's Help

36 years
28 years

Timaru
Timaru

1 month
28 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

13/1564

25 January 1913

Father Smyth, Roman Catholic Priest

No	9
Date of Notice	25 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Dawkins	Mary Darcy
	💍 1913/2099
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Mother's Help
Age	36 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	1 month	28 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	13/1564
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Father Smyth, Roman Catholic Priest

24 January 1913

Robert Aitken
Christina Faulkner

Robert Aitken
Christina Faulkner
💍 1913/3932

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool buyer
Nurse

22 years
23 years

Timaru
Timaru

6 years
1 year

Dwellinghouse of Mrs Gaylor, Main South Road, Timaru

13/3483

24 January 1913

Rev. W. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	10
Date of Notice	24 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Aitken	Christina Faulkner
	💍 1913/3932
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool buyer	Nurse
Age	22 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mrs Gaylor, Main South Road, Timaru
Folio	13/3483
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

24 January 1913

David Farquhar
Winifred Ellen Doyle

David Farquhar
Winifred Ellen Doyle
💍 1913/2100

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

23 years
22 years

Washdyke
Timaru

8 years
7 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Timaru

13/1565

24 January 1913

Rev. P. J. Smyth, Roman Catholic Priest

No	11
Date of Notice	24 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Farquhar	Winifred Ellen Doyle
	💍 1913/2100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	23 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Washdyke	Timaru
Length of Residence	8 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Timaru
Folio	13/1565
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Smyth, Roman Catholic Priest

28 January 1913

Patrick Mulcahy
Bridget Lynch

Patrick Mulcahy
Bridget Lynch
💍 1913/2098

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

23 years
24 years

Fairview
Timaru

23 years
4 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

13/1563

28 January 1913

Rev. P. J. Smyth, Roman Catholic Priest

No	12
Date of Notice	28 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Mulcahy	Bridget Lynch
	💍 1913/2098
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	23 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Fairview	Timaru
Length of Residence	23 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	13/1563
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Smyth, Roman Catholic Priest

4 February 1913

Ernest Oliver Shaw
Nellie Patricia Shine

Ernest Oliver Shaw
Nellie Patricia Shine
💍 1913/2101

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic duties

33 years
25 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 months

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

13/1566

4 February 1913

Rev. A. Le Petit, Roman Catholic Priest

No	13
Date of Notice	4 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Oliver Shaw	Nellie Patricia Shine
	💍 1913/2101
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	33 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	13/1566
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Le Petit, Roman Catholic Priest

4 February 1913

Robert Wallace
Isabella Mary Houston Burrell Wightman

Robert Wallace Wightman
Isabella Mary Houston Burrell
💍 1913/3933

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

23 years
24 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

13/3484

4 February 1913

Rev. W. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	14
Date of Notice	4 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Wallace	Isabella Mary Houston Burrell Wightman
BDM Match (69%)	Robert Wallace Wightman	Isabella Mary Houston Burrell
	💍 1913/3933
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	23 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	13/3484
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

4 February 1913

Clifford Harris Thompson
Kelly Beatrice Hay

Clifford Harris Thompson
Nelly Beatrice Hay
💍 1913/2029

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk
Domestic duties

30 years
24 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
14 years

Residence of Mrs W. Hay, Wai-iti Road, Timaru

13/1543

4 February 1913

Rev. J. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	15
Date of Notice	4 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clifford Harris Thompson	Kelly Beatrice Hay
BDM Match (97%)	Clifford Harris Thompson	Nelly Beatrice Hay
	💍 1913/2029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	30 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	14 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs W. Hay, Wai-iti Road, Timaru
Folio	13/1543
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

10 February 1913

Roland Warrington Dale
Caroline Elizabeth Squire

Roland Warrington Dale
Caroline Elizabeth Squire
💍 1913/2105

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Household duties

30 years
23 years

Timaru
Fairview

30 years
15 years

Dwellinghouse of G. W. Squire, Fairview

13/1552

10 February 1913

Rev. Alex Allen, Methodist Minister

No	16
Date of Notice	10 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Roland Warrington Dale	Caroline Elizabeth Squire
	💍 1913/2105
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Household duties
Age	30 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Fairview
Length of Residence	30 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of G. W. Squire, Fairview
Folio	13/1552
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex Allen, Methodist Minister

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).