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 129

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

528

4 July 1913

Robert William Gagen
Elizabeth Emma Smith

Robert William Gagen
Elizabeth Emma Smith
💍 1913/4986

Widower
Spinster

Slater & Tiler
Cook

39
31

Christchurch
Sumner

9 months
10 months

Registrar's Office Christchurch

13/4638

4 July 1913

Registrar

No	528
Date of Notice	4 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert William Gagen	Elizabeth Emma Smith
	💍 1913/4986
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Slater & Tiler	Cook
Age	39	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sumner
Length of Residence	9 months	10 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	13/4638
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

529

4 July 1913

John Edward Wright
Nellie Smith

John Edward Wright
Nellie Smith
💍 1913/5972

George Egbert Wright
Nellie Olive Smith
💍 1913/8219

Divorced
Spinster

Bootmaker

38
30

Woolston
Woolston

30 years
4 years

Methodist Church Opawa

13/5556

4 July 1913

Rev. W. Laycock

No	529
Date of Notice	4 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Wright	Nellie Smith
	💍 1913/5972
BDM Match (61%)	George Egbert Wright	Nellie Olive Smith
	💍 1913/8219
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	38	30
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	30 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Opawa
Folio	13/5556
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Laycock

530

5 July 1913

William Henry Jerard
Elizabeth Slater

William Henry Jerard
Elizabeth Slater
💍 1913/5992

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter & Joiner

26
22

St. Albans
St. Albans

9 years
10 years

Durham St. Methodist Church Christchurch

13/5552

5 July 1913

Rev. C. H. Laws

No	530
Date of Notice	5 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Jerard	Elizabeth Slater
	💍 1913/5992
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter & Joiner
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	9 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Durham St. Methodist Church Christchurch
Folio	13/5552
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Laws

531

5 July 1913

Henry Joseph Stone
Lucy Grace Elizabeth Farrall

Henry Joseph Stone
Lucy Grace Elizabeth Farrall
💍 1913/4987

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

65
47

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Christchurch

13/4639

5 July 1913

Registrar

No	531
Date of Notice	5 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Joseph Stone	Lucy Grace Elizabeth Farrall
	💍 1913/4987
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	65	47
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	13/4639
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

532

5 July 1913

Caleb Griffiths
Clara Olive Ellen Rennie

Caleb Griffiths
Clara Olive Ellen Rennie
💍 1913/5970

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter & Decorator

29
24

Sydenham
Woolston

Life
Life

St. John's Church Woolston

13/5554

5 July 1913

Rev. W. H. Orbell

No	532
Date of Notice	5 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Caleb Griffiths	Clara Olive Ellen Rennie
	💍 1913/5970
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter & Decorator
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Woolston
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St. John's Church Woolston
Folio	13/5554
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Orbell

533

7 July 1913

Charles Richard Parr
Alice Tunmer

Charles Richard Parr
Alice Tunmer
💍 1913/5984

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

35
22

Ellesmere
Ellesmere

8 years
Life

Methodist Church Ellesmere

13/5567

7 July 1913

Rev. C. E. Penney

No	533
Date of Notice	7 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Richard Parr	Alice Tunmer
	💍 1913/5984
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Ellesmere	Ellesmere
Length of Residence	8 years	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Ellesmere
Folio	13/5567
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Penney

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).