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 204

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1913 Registrar Frank Evans

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

954

30 December 1913

Louis Joseph Wareing
Lucy Adelaide Nichols

Louis Joseph Wareing
Lucy Adelaide Nichols
💍 1913/8003

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

22
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
3 months

St. Mary's Church, Manchester St., Christchurch

7786

Helen Wilds, Father

30 December 1913

Rev. R. Hoare

No	954
Date of Notice	30 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis Joseph Wareing	Lucy Adelaide Nichols
	💍 1913/8003
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	3 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Manchester St., Christchurch
Folio	7786
Consent	Helen Wilds, Father
Date of Certificate	30 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Hoare

955

30 December 1913

James Henry Kirk
Jeanette May Robinson

James Henry Kirk
Jeannette May Robinson
💍 1913/7969

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Milliner

33
31

St. Albans
St. Albans

15 months
12 months

St. John's Church, Hereford St., Christchurch

7759

30 December 1913

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	955
Date of Notice	30 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Kirk	Jeanette May Robinson
BDM Match (98%)	James Henry Kirk	Jeannette May Robinson
	💍 1913/7969
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Milliner
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	15 months	12 months
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Hereford St., Christchurch
Folio	7759
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

956

30 December 1913

William Claude Noakes
Mabel Gertrude Cuff

William Claude Noakes
Mabel Gertrude Cuff
💍 1914/7975

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

29
18

Fisherton
Fisherton

8 weeks
2 weeks

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

19467

Helen Brown Cuff, Mother

30 December 1913

Rev. T. Tait

No	956
Date of Notice	30 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Claude Noakes	Mabel Gertrude Cuff
	💍 1914/7975
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	29	18
Dwelling Place	Fisherton	Fisherton
Length of Residence	8 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	19467
Consent	Helen Brown Cuff, Mother
Date of Certificate	30 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Tait

957

30 December 1913

Matthew Meikle Raaff
Helena Margaret McIntyre

Matthew Nicholas Raaff
Helena Margaret McIntyre
💍 1914/7976

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Costumiere

25
28

Sydenham
Linwood

2 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbados St., Christchurch

1468

30 December 1913

Rev. T. W. Price

No	957
Date of Notice	30 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Meikle Raaff	Helena Margaret McIntyre
BDM Match (84%)	Matthew Nicholas Raaff	Helena Margaret McIntyre
	💍 1914/7976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Costumiere
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Linwood
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbados St., Christchurch
Folio	1468
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Price

958

30 December 1913

William Joseph Turnbull
Margaret Black

William Joseph Turnbull
Margaret Black
💍 1913/8135

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Shunter

32
24

Christchurch
St. Albans

5 days
5 days

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

7826

30 December 1913

Rev. J. Johnston

No	958
Date of Notice	30 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Joseph Turnbull	Margaret Black
	💍 1913/8135
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Shunter
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	7826
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Johnston

959

30 December 1913

George Vernon Forrest
Ada Ellen Fleming

George Vernon Forrest
Ada Ellen Fleming
💍 1914/7991

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Saleswoman

38
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
8 years

St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

19459

30 December 1913

Rev. W. W. Sedgwick

No	959
Date of Notice	30 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Vernon Forrest	Ada Ellen Fleming
	💍 1914/7991
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Saleswoman
Age	38	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	19459
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. Sedgwick

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).