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 112

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

443

2 June 1913

John Ernest Brown
Madeline Gempton Peebles

John Ernest Brown
Madeline Gampton Peebles
💍 1913/6457

Widower
Spinster

Builder

33
31

Sydenham
Spreydon

3 years
2 weeks

House of Mr. J. Moore, 526 Barbadoes St. St. Albans

13/6021

2 June 1913

Rev. R. Erwin

No	443
Date of Notice	2 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ernest Brown	Madeline Gempton Peebles
BDM Match (98%)	John Ernest Brown	Madeline Gampton Peebles
	💍 1913/6457
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Spreydon
Length of Residence	3 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Moore, 526 Barbadoes St. St. Albans
Folio	13/6021
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin

444

2 June 1913

Strickland Clough
Christina Kerr

Strickland Clough
Christina Kerr
💍 1913/2675

Bachelor
Divorced

Vulcaniser
Nurse

42
45

Timaru
Christchurch

3 weeks
18 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/2302

2 June 1913

Registrar

No	444
Date of Notice	2 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Strickland Clough	Christina Kerr
	💍 1913/2675
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Vulcaniser	Nurse
Age	42	45
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	18 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/2302
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

445

2 June 1913

David Smith McNeish
Margaret Elizabeth Norman

David Smith McNeish
Margaret Elizabeth Norman
💍 1913/4191

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller's Assistant
Waitress

27
30

St. Albans
Linwood

2 years 6 months
2 years

Church of England, Riccarton

13/3666

2 June 1913

Rev. J. de B. Salwey

No	445
Date of Notice	2 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Smith McNeish	Margaret Elizabeth Norman
	💍 1913/4191
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller's Assistant	Waitress
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Linwood
Length of Residence	2 years 6 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Riccarton
Folio	13/3666
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. de B. Salwey

446

2 June 1913

Norman Percy Bond
Lucy Ann Parker

Norman Percy Bond
Lucy Ann Parker
💍 1913/6436

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand
Domestic duties

23
24

Aylesbury
Aylesbury

3 days
1 year

House of Mr. R. Parker, Aylesbury

13/6024

2 June 1913

Rev. J. S. Reid

No	446
Date of Notice	2 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Percy Bond	Lucy Ann Parker
	💍 1913/6436
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand	Domestic duties
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Aylesbury	Aylesbury
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Mr. R. Parker, Aylesbury
Folio	13/6024
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Reid

447

2 June 1913

Claude Holden
Lily Maude Doleman

Claude Holden
Lily Maude Doleman
💍 1913/3701

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant

36
21

Wellington
Christchurch

18 months
2 months

St. Mary's Church of England, Karori, Wellington

13/3323

2 June 1913

Rev. A. L. Hansell

No	447
Date of Notice	2 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude Holden	Lily Maude Doleman
	💍 1913/3701
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant
Age	36	21
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	2 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church of England, Karori, Wellington
Folio	13/3323
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. L. Hansell

448

2 June 1913

Fred Meakin
Daisy Harriet Knight

Fred Meakin
Daisy Harriet Knight
💍 1913/4018

Bachelor
Spinster

Confectioner

29
28

Christchurch
St. Albans

3 days
Life

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans

13/3567

2 June 1913

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	448
Date of Notice	2 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred Meakin	Daisy Harriet Knight
	💍 1913/4018
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Confectioner
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans
Folio	13/3567
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

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).