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 137

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

576

29 July 1913

Leonard Wilfred Hancock
Emily Dempsey

Leonard Wilfred Hancock
Emily Dempsey
💍 1913/3535

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

22
19

Christchurch
St. Albans

1 year
6 months

House of Mrs Dempsey, Caledonian Rd., St. Albans

13/5578

W. Dempsey, Father

29 July 1913

Rev. R. Erwin

No	576
Date of Notice	29 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Wilfred Hancock	Emily Dempsey
	💍 1913/3535
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	1 year	6 months
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Dempsey, Caledonian Rd., St. Albans
Folio	13/5578
Consent	W. Dempsey, Father
Date of Certificate	29 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin

577

31 July 1913

Thomas Nicholson
Emma Elizabeth Harris

Thomas Nicholson
Emma Elizabeth Harris
💍 1913/6099

Widower
Widow

Farmer

69
60

Linwood
Heathcote Valley

50 years
8 years

St. Marks Church, Opawa

13/5683

31 July 1913

Rev. H. Williams

No	577
Date of Notice	31 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Nicholson	Emma Elizabeth Harris
	💍 1913/6099
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	69	60
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Heathcote Valley
Length of Residence	50 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Marks Church, Opawa
Folio	13/5683
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

578

1 August 1913

John James Brightmore
Mary Hannah Dilworth

John James Brightmore
Mary Hannah Dilworth
💍 1913/3514

Widower
Spinster

Wood Turner

33
39

Spreydon
Spreydon

33 years
3 years

Congregational Church, Sydenham

13/5581

1 August 1913

Rev. H.S. Perkins

No	578
Date of Notice	1 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Brightmore	Mary Hannah Dilworth
	💍 1913/3514
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Wood Turner
Age	33	39
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	33 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Sydenham
Folio	13/5581
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.S. Perkins

579

1 August 1913

William Emms Ivory
Alice Elizabeth Stacey

William Emms Ivory
Alice Elizabeth Stacey
💍 1913/3503

Bachelor
Spinster

Nurseryman

23
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 weeks
7 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/4653

1 August 1913

Registrar

No	579
Date of Notice	1 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Emms Ivory	Alice Elizabeth Stacey
	💍 1913/3503
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Nurseryman
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 weeks	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/4653
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

580

1 August 1913

Archibald Ramsay Douglas
Margaret Olga Rovena Lottie Loftus Clayton

Archibald Ramsay Douglas
Margaret Olga Rowena Lottie Loftus Clayton
💍 1913/7998

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipping Clerk

31
24

Opawa
Sumner

29 years
16 years

All Saints Church, Sumner

7765

1 August 1913

Rev. H.S. Leach

No	580
Date of Notice	1 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Ramsay Douglas	Margaret Olga Rovena Lottie Loftus Clayton
BDM Match (99%)	Archibald Ramsay Douglas	Margaret Olga Rowena Lottie Loftus Clayton
	💍 1913/7998
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipping Clerk
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Sumner
Length of Residence	29 years	16 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Sumner
Folio	7765
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.S. Leach

581

1 August 1913

Hugh Edward Dennitto Willcox
Agnes Frances Deegan

Hugh Edward Dennitts Willcox
Agnes Frances Deegan
💍 1913/8668

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk

27
26

Papanui
St. Albans

27 years
5 years

St. John's Church, Christchurch

8523

1 August 1913

Rev. H. Purches

No	581
Date of Notice	1 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Edward Dennitto Willcox	Agnes Frances Deegan
BDM Match (98%)	Hugh Edward Dennitts Willcox	Agnes Frances Deegan
	💍 1913/8668
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Papanui	St. Albans
Length of Residence	27 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	8523
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Purches

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).