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 174

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

774

28 October 1913

Francis Richmond Smith
Edith Warner

Francis Richmond Smith
Edith Warner
💍 1913/7977

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

32
21

Christchurch
St. Albans

10 days
6 months

St. Matthew's Church, Christchurch

13/7744

28 October 1913

Rev. P.B. Haggitt

No	774
Date of Notice	28 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Richmond Smith	Edith Warner
	💍 1913/7977
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	10 days	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/7744
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.B. Haggitt

775

28 October 1913

John Charles Everett
Florence Annie Hosking Dale

John Charles Everett
Florence Annie Hosking Dale
💍 1913/7954

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver

24
24

Sydenham
Nr. Riccarton

1 year
18 months

St. Mary's Church, Addington

13/7745

28 October 1913

Rev. W.S. Bean

No	775
Date of Notice	28 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles Everett	Florence Annie Hosking Dale
	💍 1913/7954
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Nr. Riccarton
Length of Residence	1 year	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	13/7745
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W.S. Bean

776

28 October 1913

Charles Vincent Newton Broad
Frances Hamilton Robinson

Charles Vincent Newton Broad
Frances Hamilton Robinson
💍 1913/8979

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist

26
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
12 years

St. Mary's Church, Addington, Merivale

13/8550

28 October 1913

Rev. W. Ford-Hutchenson

No	776
Date of Notice	28 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Vincent Newton Broad	Frances Hamilton Robinson
	💍 1913/8979
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington, Merivale
Folio	13/8550
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Ford-Hutchenson

777

28 October 1913

Henry Dean
Jane Cathie

Henry Dean
Jane Cathie
💍 1913/7955

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

32
36

Opawa
Sydenham

9 months
3 years

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

13/7746

28 October 1913

Rev. H.S. Leach

No	777
Date of Notice	28 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Dean	Jane Cathie
	💍 1913/7955
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	32	36
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Sydenham
Length of Residence	9 months	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	13/7746
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.S. Leach

778

28 October 1913

Albert Musgrave Purser
Eva Richards

Albert Musgrave Purser
Eva Richards
💍 1913/8038

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

28
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
2.5 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

13/7729

28 October 1913

Rev. H.W. Burton

No	778
Date of Notice	28 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Musgrave Purser	Eva Richards
	💍 1913/8038
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2.5 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/7729
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.W. Burton

779

28 October 1913

Herbert William Brownie
Catherine O'Donnell

Herbert William Brownie
Catherine O'Donnell
💍 1913/7995

Robert Gibson Scott
Catherine O'Donnell
💍 1913/7246

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot Salesman

24
24

North Richmond
Christchurch

11 years
5 years

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

13/7785

28 October 1913

Rev. R.J. Hoare

No	779
Date of Notice	28 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert William Brownie	Catherine O'Donnell
	💍 1913/7995
BDM Match (67%)	Robert Gibson Scott	Catherine O'Donnell
	💍 1913/7246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot Salesman
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	North Richmond	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Manchester St., Christchurch
Folio	13/7785
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R.J. Hoare

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).