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 148

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

636

28 August '.1913.'

Marshall Clifford Mills
Beatrice Dorothy King

Marshall Clifford Mills
Beatrice Dorothy King
💍 1913/5870

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot Importer
Biscuit maker

25
22

Sydenham
Christchurch

25 years
22 years

Church of Christ, Durham St. Christchurch

13/5620

28 August '.1913.'

Mr. R. Gebbie

No	636
Date of Notice	28 August '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Marshall Clifford Mills	Beatrice Dorothy King
	💍 1913/5870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot Importer	Biscuit maker
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Durham St. Christchurch
Folio	13/5620
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Mr. R. Gebbie

637

29 August '.1913.'

Sydney Watson
Mary Ann Kolkmann

Sydney Watson
Mary Ann Kolkmann
💍 1913/5900

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
23

Styx
Styx

Life
Life

Methodist Church, Papanui

13/5609

29 August '.1913.'

Rev. A. Peters

No	637
Date of Notice	29 August '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Watson	Mary Ann Kolkmann
	💍 1913/5900
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Styx	Styx
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Papanui
Folio	13/5609
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Peters

638

29 August '.1913.'

James Giles
Jane Davidson Linton

James Giles
Jane Davidson Linton
💍 1913/3490

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

1.5 years
5 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/4664

29 August '.1913.'

Registrar

No	638
Date of Notice	29 August '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Giles	Jane Davidson Linton
	💍 1913/3490
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1.5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/4664
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Registrar

639

29 August '.1913.'

Fredrick Thomas Ridden
Fanny Elizabeth Morse

Frederick Thomas Ridden
Fanny Elizabeth Morrel
💍 1913/5898

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
25

Lincoln
Springston

Life
Life

Methodist Church, Selwyn St. Addington

13/5607

29 August '.1913.'

Rev. S. Griffith

No	639
Date of Notice	29 August '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fredrick Thomas Ridden	Fanny Elizabeth Morse
BDM Match (93%)	Frederick Thomas Ridden	Fanny Elizabeth Morrel
	💍 1913/5898
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Lincoln	Springston
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Selwyn St. Addington
Folio	13/5607
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Griffith

640

30 August '.1913.'

George Henry Mitchell
Martha Annie McCready

George Henry Mitchell
Martha Annie McCready
💍 1913/5901

Bachelor
Widow

Boilermaker
Machinist

26
30

Sydenham
Sydenham

4 years
Life

Methodist Church, Colombo Rd. Sydenham

13/5610

30 August '.1913.'

Rev. A. K. Scotter

No	640
Date of Notice	30 August '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Mitchell	Martha Annie McCready
	💍 1913/5901
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Boilermaker	Machinist
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	4 years	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Colombo Rd. Sydenham
Folio	13/5610
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 August '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. K. Scotter

641

1 September '.1913.'

John Edwards Shine
Muriel Florence Brown

John Edwards Shine
Muriel Florence Brown
💍 1913/5896

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
13 years

St. Barnabas Church, Fendalton

13/5605

1 September '.1913.'

Rev. T. A. Hamilton

No	641
Date of Notice	1 September '.1913.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edwards Shine	Muriel Florence Brown
	💍 1913/5896
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	13 years
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church, Fendalton
Folio	13/5605
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September '.1913.'
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. 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).