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 164

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

714

4 October 1913

Norman Frank Roberts
Gwendoline Madge Le Masurier Cooper

Norman Frank Roberts
Gwendoline Madge de Masurier Cooper
💍 1913/8044

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer

22
21

Sydenham
New Brighton

22 years
5 years

Methodist Church, New Brighton

13/7734

4 October 1913

Rev. A. H. Scriven

No	714
Date of Notice	4 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Frank Roberts	Gwendoline Madge Le Masurier Cooper
BDM Match (99%)	Norman Frank Roberts	Gwendoline Madge de Masurier Cooper
	💍 1913/8044
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	New Brighton
Length of Residence	22 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, New Brighton
Folio	13/7734
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Scriven

715

4 October 1913

Silas Dickson
Mary Constance Cowdery

Silas Dickson
Mary Constance Cowdery
💍 1913/7981

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

30
30

Sydenham
St. Albans

7 years
5 years

St. Matthews Church, St. Albans

13/7772

4 October 1913

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	715
Date of Notice	4 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Silas Dickson	Mary Constance Cowdery
	💍 1913/7981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	St. Albans
Length of Residence	7 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, St. Albans
Folio	13/7772
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

716

6 October 1913

George Fries Wood
Helen MacKenzie Fairweather

George Tyres Wood
Helen MacKenzie Fairweather
💍 1913/7899

Bachelor
Spinster

Presser

28
20

Sydenham
Christchurch

28 years
20 years

St. Andrews Church, Christchurch

13/7691

Isabella Jane Borwick Fairweather, mother

6 October 1913

Rev. F. Rule

No	716
Date of Notice	6 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Fries Wood	Helen MacKenzie Fairweather
BDM Match (91%)	George Tyres Wood	Helen MacKenzie Fairweather
	💍 1913/7899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Presser
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	28 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/7691
Consent	Isabella Jane Borwick Fairweather, mother
Date of Certificate	6 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Rule

717

7 October 1913

John Donnelly
Clara Elizabeth Hood

John Donnelly
Clara Elizabeth Hood
💍 1913/7994

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

43
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

38 years
Life

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch

13/7784

7 October 1913

Rev. F. L. Dignen

No	717
Date of Notice	7 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Donnelly	Clara Elizabeth Hood
	💍 1913/7994
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	43	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	38 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/7784
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. L. Dignen

718

7 October 1913

William Charles Tourell
Ida Carrodus

William Charles Towell
Ida Canodus
💍 1913/8011

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Mounter

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Methodist Church, Selwyn St, Addington

13/7802

7 October 1913

Rev. H. E. Sellhouse

No	718
Date of Notice	7 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Tourell	Ida Carrodus
BDM Match (87%)	William Charles Towell	Ida Canodus
	💍 1913/8011
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Mounter
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Selwyn St, Addington
Folio	13/7802
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Sellhouse

719

7 October 1913

Thomas Fraser
Lucy E. Carrodus

Thomas Fraser
Lucy Canodus
💍 1913/8010

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 months

Methodist Church, Selwyn St, Addington

13/7801

7 October 1913

Rev. H. E. Sellhouse

No	719
Date of Notice	7 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Fraser	Lucy E. Carrodus
BDM Match (84%)	Thomas Fraser	Lucy Canodus
	💍 1913/8010
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Selwyn St, Addington
Folio	13/7801
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Sellhouse

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).