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 139

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

588

5 August 1913

Thomas Robertson Taylor
Cecilia Furk

Thomas Robertson Taylor
Cecilia Purk
💍 1913/3505

Bachelor
Widow

Accountant

53
41

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
8 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/4655

5 August 1913

Registrar

No	588
Date of Notice	5 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Robertson Taylor	Cecilia Furk
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Robertson Taylor	Cecilia Purk
	💍 1913/3505
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Accountant
Age	53	41
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/4655
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

589

5 August 1913

John Hutchison
Annie Craig Murdoch

John Hutchinson
Annie Craig Murdoch
💍 1913/3515

Widower
Spinster

Baker
Saleswoman

46
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
2 months

House of Mr. F. Dephoff, 39 Norwich St.

13/5582

5 August 1913

Rev. T. McDonald

No	589
Date of Notice	5 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hutchison	Annie Craig Murdoch
BDM Match (97%)	John Hutchinson	Annie Craig Murdoch
	💍 1913/3515
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Saleswoman
Age	46	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. F. Dephoff, 39 Norwich St.
Folio	13/5582
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. McDonald

590

6 August 1913

Howard Henry Newton
Grace Constance Fardell

Howard Henry Newton
Grace Constance Fardell
💍 1913/5912

Bachelor
Spinster

Company Manager

28
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
From England

Methodist Church, Papanui Rd. St. Albans

13/5597

6 August 1913

Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

No	590
Date of Notice	6 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Howard Henry Newton	Grace Constance Fardell
	💍 1913/5912
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Company Manager
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	From England
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Papanui Rd. St. Albans
Folio	13/5597
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

591

5 August 1913

Robert Samuel Wood
Amelia Baxter Watson

Robert Samuel Wood
Amelia Baxter Watson
💍 1913/6388

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Ladies Companion

31
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 months
2 1/2 years

House of Mr. J. Watson, 381 Cambridge Ter.

13/6124

5 August 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	591
Date of Notice	5 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Samuel Wood	Amelia Baxter Watson
	💍 1913/6388
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Ladies Companion
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 months	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Watson, 381 Cambridge Ter.
Folio	13/6124
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

592

8 August 1913

Fred. Thomas Rathgen
Lily Evelyn Sparks

Fred Thomas Ratligen
Lily Evelyn Sparks
💍 1913/3516

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
27

Halswell
Halswell

10 years
Life

St. Mary's Church, Addington

13/5583

8 August 1913

Rev. W. S. Bean

No	592
Date of Notice	8 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred. Thomas Rathgen	Lily Evelyn Sparks
BDM Match (93%)	Fred Thomas Ratligen	Lily Evelyn Sparks
	💍 1913/3516
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Halswell	Halswell
Length of Residence	10 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	13/5583
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean

593

9 August 1913

Albert Thomas Griffin
Lilian Glover

Albert Thomas Griffin
Lilian Glover
💍 1913/3520

Bachelor
Spinster

Nurseryman

28
22

Riccarton
Sydenham

10 years
8 days

St. Mary's Church, Addington

13/5587

9 August 1913

Rev. W. S. Bean

No	593
Date of Notice	9 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Thomas Griffin	Lilian Glover
	💍 1913/3520
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Nurseryman
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Sydenham
Length of Residence	10 years	8 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	13/5587
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean

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).