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 133

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

552

15 July 1913

Stephen Borrell
Jessie McIntosh

Stephen Borrell
Jessie McIntosh
💍 1913/3529

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

30
25

St. Albans
St. Albans

3 weeks
Life

House of Mr. C. McIntosh, 19 Shirley Rd, St. Albans

13/5572

15 July 1913

Rev. W. C. Oliver

No	552
Date of Notice	15 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Borrell	Jessie McIntosh
	💍 1913/3529
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 weeks	Life
Marriage Place	House of Mr. C. McIntosh, 19 Shirley Rd, St. Albans
Folio	13/5572
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. C. Oliver

553

16 July 1913

John Cameron
Jeanie Dick

John Cameron
Jeanie Dick
💍 1913/5983

Bachelor
Spinster

Chainman
Domestic Servant

27
24

Papanui
Papanui

3 days
4 years

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

13/5566

16 July 1913

Rev. T. Tait

No	553
Date of Notice	16 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cameron	Jeanie Dick
	💍 1913/5983
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chainman	Domestic Servant
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/5566
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Tait

554

17 July 1913

Francis James Hamblin
Kathleen Henrietta Meadows

Francis James Hamblin
Kathleen Henrietta Meadows
💍 1913/5982

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Waitress

24
25

Christchurch
Sydenham

1 year
3 years

St. David's Church, Sydenham

13/5565

17 July 1913

Rev. C. Murray

No	554
Date of Notice	17 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis James Hamblin	Kathleen Henrietta Meadows
	💍 1913/5982
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Waitress
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	1 year	3 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Church, Sydenham
Folio	13/5565
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

555

17 July 1913

Hugh Henderson
Mary Palmer

Hugh Henderson
Mary Palmer
💍 1913/8377

Bachelor
Spinster

Enginedriver

34
33

Sydenham
Lincoln

12 years
6 years

St. Stephen's Church, Lincoln

8143

17 July 1913

Rev. T. J. Smythe

No	555
Date of Notice	17 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Henderson	Mary Palmer
	💍 1913/8377
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Enginedriver
Age	34	33
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Lincoln
Length of Residence	12 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephen's Church, Lincoln
Folio	8143
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smythe

556

17 July 1913

Frederick Roslyn Dunsford
Gwen Agnes Parker English

Frederick Roslyn Dunsford
Gwen Agnes Parker English
💍 1913/6097

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Official

26
18

Christchurch
Riccarton

5 years
18 years

St. Peter's Church, Riccarton

13/5681

Henry English, Father

17 July 1913

Rev. H. York

No	556
Date of Notice	17 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Roslyn Dunsford	Gwen Agnes Parker English
	💍 1913/6097
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Official
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	5 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Riccarton
Folio	13/5681
Consent	Henry English, Father
Date of Certificate	17 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. York

557

17 July 1913

Clarence Rudstone Smith
Dulcie Norris Brackenreg

Clarence Ludstone Smith
Dulcie Norris Brackenreg
💍 1913/4994

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Nurse

22
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
2 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/4645

17 July 1913

Registrar

No	557
Date of Notice	17 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Rudstone Smith	Dulcie Norris Brackenreg
BDM Match (98%)	Clarence Ludstone Smith	Dulcie Norris Brackenreg
	💍 1913/4994
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Nurse
Age	22	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/4645
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).