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 186

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

846

21 November 1913

Horace George Reeves
Annie Railton

Horace George Reeves
Annie Railton
💍 1913/3541

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotel Employee
Hotel Employee

25
23

Christchurch
St. Albans

4 years
4 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

13/6569

21 November 1913

Registrar

No	846
Date of Notice	21 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace George Reeves	Annie Railton
	💍 1913/3541
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Employee	Hotel Employee
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	13/6569
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

847

21 November 1913

Norman Stanley Andrews
Violet Maud Taylor

Norman Stanley Andrews
Violet Maud Tabor
💍 1913/7963

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

23
25

Dallington
Linwood

14 days
3 months

St. John's Church Christchurch

13/7754

21 November 1913

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	847
Date of Notice	21 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Stanley Andrews	Violet Maud Taylor
BDM Match (94%)	Norman Stanley Andrews	Violet Maud Tabor
	💍 1913/7963
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Dallington	Linwood
Length of Residence	14 days	3 months
Marriage Place	St. John's Church Christchurch
Folio	13/7754
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

848

22 November 1913

William James Bailey
Rosie Hogwood

William James Bailey
Rosie Hogwood
💍 1913/8505

Bachelor
Spinster

Stockman
Housemaid

28
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

Knox Manse Christchurch

13/8221

22 November 1913

Rev. R. Erwin

No	848
Date of Notice	22 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Bailey	Rosie Hogwood
	💍 1913/8505
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stockman	Housemaid
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Knox Manse Christchurch
Folio	13/8221
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin

850

22 November 1913

Stanley Lennox
Hilda Annie Dodge

Stanley Lennox
Hilda Annie Dodge
💍 1913/9002

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Milliner

23
23

Hornby
Hornby

6 years
12 years

Presbyterian Church Hornby

13/8557

22 November 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	850
Date of Notice	22 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Lennox	Hilda Annie Dodge
	💍 1913/9002
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Milliner
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Hornby	Hornby
Length of Residence	6 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Hornby
Folio	13/8557
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

851

24 November 1913

Cecil Fletcher
Alice Adelaide Cordon commonly known as Alice Adelaide Whitley

Cecil Fletcher
Alice Adelaide Gwendoline Cardon Whitley
💍 1913/8019

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

30
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
7 years

House of Mrs. Loader, 76 Salisbury St Christchurch

13/7809

24 November 1913

Rev. A. Peters

No	851
Date of Notice	24 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Fletcher	Alice Adelaide Cordon commonly known as Alice Adelaide Whitley
BDM Match (74%)	Cecil Fletcher	Alice Adelaide Gwendoline Cardon Whitley
	💍 1913/8019
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	7 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Loader, 76 Salisbury St Christchurch
Folio	13/7809
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Peters

869

22 November 1913

John William Jones
Ruby Gwendolyn Richards

John William Jones
Ruby Gwendolyn Richards
💍 1913/7962

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable

26
21

Christchurch
Wellington

10 months
Life

St. Matthew's Church Christchurch

13/7753

22 November 1913

Rev. P. A. Hoggett

No	869
Date of Notice	22 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Jones	Ruby Gwendolyn Richards
	💍 1913/7962
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Wellington
Length of Residence	10 months	Life
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church Christchurch
Folio	13/7753
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. A. Hoggett

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).