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 131

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

540

8 July 1913

Henry James Little Johnson
Nellie Ellen Peterson

Henry James Little Johnson
Nellie Ellen Petersen
💍 1913/5974

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

27
19

Sydenham
Sydenham

10 years
0.5 year

House of Mrs N.P. Johnson, 86 Madras St, Sydenham

13/5558

Florence Mary Angelina Davis, mother of bride

8 July 1913

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	540
Date of Notice	8 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Little Johnson	Nellie Ellen Peterson
BDM Match (98%)	Henry James Little Johnson	Nellie Ellen Petersen
	💍 1913/5974
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	10 years	0.5 year
Marriage Place	House of Mrs N.P. Johnson, 86 Madras St, Sydenham
Folio	13/5558
Consent	Florence Mary Angelina Davis, mother of bride
Date of Certificate	8 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

541

9 July 1913

Edward Scoullar
Ellen May Lavender

Edward Scoullar
Ellen May Lavender
💍 1913/5977

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer

28
28

Upper Riccarton
Papanui

14 years
4 years

House of Mrs C.V. Millist, 54 Highsted Rd, Papanui

13/5561

9 July 1913

Rev. D. D. Rodger

No	541
Date of Notice	9 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Scoullar	Ellen May Lavender
	💍 1913/5977
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Upper Riccarton	Papanui
Length of Residence	14 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs C.V. Millist, 54 Highsted Rd, Papanui
Folio	13/5561
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. D. Rodger

542

9 July 1913

Joseph Shore
Hannah Jane Ramsay

Joseph Shore
Hannah Jane Ramsay
💍 1913/4988

Widower (16.7.1901)
Widow (11.2.1913)

Engineer

53
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/4640

9 July 1913

Registrar

No	542
Date of Notice	9 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Shore	Hannah Jane Ramsay
	💍 1913/4988
Condition	Widower (16.7.1901)	Widow (11.2.1913)
Profession	Engineer
Age	53	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/4640
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

543

10 July 1913

Ernest Arthur Danesbury Manhire
Alice Beatrice Bond

Ernest Arthur Danesbury Manhire
Alice Beatrice Bond
💍 1913/6387

Bachelor
Spinster

Assistant Stonekeeper

25
23

Hornby
Hornby

Life
5 months

Presbyterian Church, Hornby

13/6123

10 July 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	543
Date of Notice	10 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Arthur Danesbury Manhire	Alice Beatrice Bond
	💍 1913/6387
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Assistant Stonekeeper
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Hornby	Hornby
Length of Residence	Life	5 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hornby
Folio	13/6123
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

544

10 July 1913

Dan McKearney
Elizabeth Mary Rawle

Dan McKearney
Elizabeth Mary Rawle
💍 1913/4989

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Tailoress

21
24

Sydenham
Sydenham

1 year
10 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/4641

10 July 1913

Registrar

No	544
Date of Notice	10 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Dan McKearney	Elizabeth Mary Rawle
	💍 1913/4989
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Tailoress
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	1 year	10 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/4641
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

545

11 July 1913

Arthur Howard Smith
Mary Elizabeth Walles

Arthur Howard Smith
Mary Elizabeth Walles
💍 1913/5979

Bachelor
Widow (22.3.1904)

Farmer

45
41

St. Albans
St. Albans

6 years
5 years

St. David's Church, Sydenham

13/5563

11 July 1913

Rev. C. Murray

No	545
Date of Notice	11 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Howard Smith	Mary Elizabeth Walles
	💍 1913/5979
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (22.3.1904)
Profession	Farmer
Age	45	41
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	6 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Church, Sydenham
Folio	13/5563
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

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).