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 178

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

798

4 November 1913

George Victor Gudsell
Lily Louisa Early

George Victor Gudsell
Lily Louisa Early
💍 1913/8136

Bachelor
Spinster

Chaff-cutting Contractor

26
29

Broadfield
Broadfield

3 days
Life

House of Mr. W. Early, Broadfield

13/7827

4 November 1913

Rev. C. E. Pennay

No	798
Date of Notice	4 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Victor Gudsell	Lily Louisa Early
	💍 1913/8136
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chaff-cutting Contractor
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Broadfield	Broadfield
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. Early, Broadfield
Folio	13/7827
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Pennay

799

4 November 1913

Albert George Bonnington
Ethel May Jones

Albert George Bonnington
Ethel May Jones
💍 1913/8002

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

28
21

Sydenham
Sydenham

Life
5 years

Methodist Church, Sydenham

13/7769

4 November 1913

Rev. A. H. Scotter

No	799
Date of Notice	4 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert George Bonnington	Ethel May Jones
	💍 1913/8002
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	Life	5 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Sydenham
Folio	13/7769
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Scotter

800

4 November 1913

Daniel John Ridden
Mary Woods

Daniel John Ridden
Mary Woods
💍 1913/7957

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
19

Lincoln
Lincoln

Life
6 years

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans

13/7748

Andrew Russell Woods, father of bride

4 November 1913

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	800
Date of Notice	4 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel John Ridden	Mary Woods
	💍 1913/7957
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Lincoln	Lincoln
Length of Residence	Life	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans
Folio	13/7748
Consent	Andrew Russell Woods, father of bride
Date of Certificate	4 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

801

4 November 1913

Maurice Malthus
Winnifred Mary Redmayne

Maurice Malthus
Winnifred Mary Redmayne
💍 1913/7958

Widower
Spinster

Insurance Superintendent
Accountant

37
30

St. Albans
St. Albans

3 days
17 years

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans

13/7749

4 November 1913

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	801
Date of Notice	4 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maurice Malthus	Winnifred Mary Redmayne
	💍 1913/7958
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Insurance Superintendent	Accountant
Age	37	30
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 days	17 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans
Folio	13/7749
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

802

4 November 1913

Charles Lyes
Lilly Bitton

Charles Lyes
Lily Betton
💍 1913/7989

Bachelor
Spinster

Carriage Painter

27
31

Heathcote
Heathcote

26 years
2 years

St. John's Church, Christchurch

13/7762

4 November 1913

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	802
Date of Notice	4 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Lyes	Lilly Bitton
BDM Match (92%)	Charles Lyes	Lily Betton
	💍 1913/7989
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carriage Painter
Age	27	31
Dwelling Place	Heathcote	Heathcote
Length of Residence	26 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/7762
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

803

4 November 1913

Edwin Henry Staples Hamilton
Sybil Mary Gwendolen Jameson

Edwin Henry Staples Hamilton
Sybil Mary Glwendolen Jameson
💍 1913/8386

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

27
21

Riccarton
Fendalton

4 days
Life

St. Barnabas' Church, Fendalton

13/8151

4 November 1913

Rev. S. Hamilton

No	803
Date of Notice	4 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Henry Staples Hamilton	Sybil Mary Gwendolen Jameson
BDM Match (98%)	Edwin Henry Staples Hamilton	Sybil Mary Glwendolen Jameson
	💍 1913/8386
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Fendalton
Length of Residence	4 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas' Church, Fendalton
Folio	13/8151
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Hamilton

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).