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 152

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

660

9 September 1913

James Francis Chittock
Margaret Bayne

James Francis Chittock
Margaret Bayne
💍 1913/6391

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

29
25

Sockburn
Sockburn

4 years
5 years

House of Mr. F. Chittock, 293 Barbadoes St., Christchurch

13/6127

9 September 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	660
Date of Notice	9 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Francis Chittock	Margaret Bayne
	💍 1913/6391
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Sockburn	Sockburn
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. F. Chittock, 293 Barbadoes St., Christchurch
Folio	13/6127
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

661

9 September 1913

William Rench
Frances Mary Reed

William Rench
Travas Mary Reed
💍 1913/6602

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Dressmaker

33
27

Linwood
Linwood

1 week
9 years

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

13/6339

9 September 1913

Rev. W. A. Pascoe

No	661
Date of Notice	9 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Rench	Frances Mary Reed
BDM Match (88%)	William Rench	Travas Mary Reed
	💍 1913/6602
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Dressmaker
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	1 week	9 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	13/6339
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe

662

9 September 1913

Frank Oliver Rule
Elizabeth Gertrude Dunn

Frank Oliver Rule
Elizabeth Gertrude Dunn
💍 1913/5911

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

32
30

Riccarton
Riccarton

3 days
10 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

13/5619

9 September 1913

Rev. H. D. Burton

No	662
Date of Notice	9 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Oliver Rule	Elizabeth Gertrude Dunn
	💍 1913/5911
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/5619
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. D. Burton

663

10 September 1913

Charles Henry Fox
Louisa Esther Osborne

Charles Henry Fox
Louisa Esther Osborne
💍 1913/3498

Divorced (Decree Nisi 10 March 1913)
Spinster

Music Teacher
Dressmaker

42
19

Rangiora (usual), Christchurch (present)
Christchurch

1 day
10 years

Office of Registrar, Christchurch

13/4671

Judge's declaration

10 September 1913

Registrar

No	663
Date of Notice	10 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Fox	Louisa Esther Osborne
	💍 1913/3498
Condition	Divorced (Decree Nisi 10 March 1913)	Spinster
Profession	Music Teacher	Dressmaker
Age	42	19
Dwelling Place	Rangiora (usual), Christchurch (present)	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 day	10 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Christchurch
Folio	13/4671
Consent	Judge's declaration
Date of Certificate	10 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

664

11 September 1913

Charles Henry Harding
Jemima Gunn

Charles Henry Harding
Jemima Gunn
💍 1913/5889

Bachelor
Spinster

Porter, N.Z.R.
Tailoress

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
Life

House of Mrs. J. Gunn, 37 Hastings St., Sydenham

13/5624

11 September 1913

Rev. C. Murray

No	664
Date of Notice	11 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Harding	Jemima Gunn
	💍 1913/5889
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Porter, N.Z.R.	Tailoress
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. J. Gunn, 37 Hastings St., Sydenham
Folio	13/5624
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

665

11 September 1913

Herbert Mulholland
Elsie Maude Hoddinott

Herbert Mulholland
Elsie Maude Hoddinott
💍 1913/5890

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Draper's Assistant

24
21

Woolston
Sydenham

8 years
4 years

Methodist Church, Colombo St., Sydenham

13/5625

11 September 1913

Rev. A. W. Scotter

No	665
Date of Notice	11 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Mulholland	Elsie Maude Hoddinott
	💍 1913/5890
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Draper's Assistant
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Sydenham
Length of Residence	8 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Colombo St., Sydenham
Folio	13/5625
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Scotter

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).