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 176

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

786

29 October 1913

Edward Mellor Watson
Dorothy Melrose Crump

Edward Mellor Watson
Dorothy Melrose Crump
💍 1913/8147

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
23

Springston
Springston

3 days
23 years

St. Mary's Church, Springston

13/7814

29 October 1913

Rev. T. J. Smyth

No	786
Date of Notice	29 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Mellor Watson	Dorothy Melrose Crump
	💍 1913/8147
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Springston	Springston
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Springston
Folio	13/7814
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smyth

787

29 October 1913

Frederick William Kirk
Lilian May Franklin

Frederick William Kirk
Lilian May Franklin
💍 1913/8037

Widower
Spinster

Adjuster
Governess

56
24

Christchurch
St. Albans

12 years 6 months
12 years 6 months

Congregational Church, Tennyson St.

13/7728

29 October 1913

Rev. H. S. Perkins

No	787
Date of Notice	29 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Kirk	Lilian May Franklin
	💍 1913/8037
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Adjuster	Governess
Age	56	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	12 years 6 months	12 years 6 months
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Tennyson St.
Folio	13/7728
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Perkins

788

30 October 1913

Eric Lyon
Edith Annie Wheeler

Eric Lyon
Edith Annie Wheeler
💍 1913/8029

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

24
25

Christchurch
Wellington

6 months
25 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

13/7720

30 October 1913

Rev. H. D. Burton

No	788
Date of Notice	30 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Lyon	Edith Annie Wheeler
	💍 1913/8029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 months	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/7720
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. D. Burton

789

30 October 1913

Norman Thomas Webb
Agnes Isabel Young

Norman Thomas Webb
Agnes Isabel Young
💍 1913/8009

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Draper's Assistant

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
Life

Congregational Church, Linwood

13/7800

30 October 1913

Rev. J. Sarginson

No	789
Date of Notice	30 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Thomas Webb	Agnes Isabel Young
	💍 1913/8009
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Draper's Assistant
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	Life
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Linwood
Folio	13/7800
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Sarginson

790

31 October 1913

Thomas Herbert McKenzie
Elizabeth Robertson Spencer

Thomas Herbert McKenzie
Elizabeth Robertson Spencer
💍 1913/7894

Bachelor
Spinster

Harness Maker
Bookbinder

26
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
30 years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church

13/7709

31 October 1913

Rev. T. Tait

No	790
Date of Notice	31 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Herbert McKenzie	Elizabeth Robertson Spencer
	💍 1913/7894
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Harness Maker	Bookbinder
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church
Folio	13/7709
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Tait

791

31 October 1913

Donald Gordon Fraser
Edith Annie Baker

Donald Gordon Fraser
Edith Annie Baker
💍 1913/8025

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Painter

24
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
4 years 6 months

Church of Christ, Durham St.

13/7792

31 October 1913

Mr. R. Tettie

No	791
Date of Notice	31 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Gordon Fraser	Edith Annie Baker
	💍 1913/8025
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Painter
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	4 years 6 months
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Durham St.
Folio	13/7792
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Mr. R. Tettie

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).