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 110

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

431

29 May 1913

George Henry Squire
Winnifred Le Mesurier

George Henry Squire
Winnifred Le Missurier
💍 1913/4070

Widower
Spinster

Drainage Board Employee

35
33

Sydenham
Spreydon

Life
Life

House of Mr. Humm, 30 St. Edenbridge Rd.

13/3602

29 May 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	431
Date of Notice	29 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Squire	Winnifred Le Mesurier
BDM Match (95%)	George Henry Squire	Winnifred Le Missurier
	💍 1913/4070
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Drainage Board Employee
Age	35	33
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Spreydon
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Humm, 30 St. Edenbridge Rd.
Folio	13/3602
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

432

29 May 1913

Percival Richard Dalley
Rosina Mary Vesey

Percival Richard Dalley
Rosina Mary Vesey
💍 1913/4012

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 weeks
3 weeks

St. John's Church, Christchurch

13/3562

29 May 1913

Rev. H. Purchas

No	432
Date of Notice	29 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Richard Dalley	Rosina Mary Vesey
	💍 1913/4012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/3562
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Purchas

433

29 May 1913

Matthew Crawford
Jane Thomas

Matthew Crawford
Jane Thomas
💍 1913/4013

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Housekeeper

26
36

Christchurch
Sydenham

4 days
2 years 6 months

House of Mr. Thomas, 40 Clifton St., Sydenham

13/3563

29 May 1913

Rev. T. Tait

No	433
Date of Notice	29 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Crawford	Jane Thomas
	💍 1913/4013
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Housekeeper
Age	26	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	4 days	2 years 6 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Thomas, 40 Clifton St., Sydenham
Folio	13/3563
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Tait

434

29 May 1913

Charles Leonard Cornish
Elizabeth Agnes Haynes

Charles Leonard Cornish
Elizabeth Agnes Haynes
💍 1913/4014

Bachelor
Spinster

Goal Pointer
Draper's Assistant

30
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
2 years

St. John's Church, Christchurch

13/3564

29 May 1913

Rev. H. Purchas

No	434
Date of Notice	29 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Leonard Cornish	Elizabeth Agnes Haynes
	💍 1913/4014
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Goal Pointer	Draper's Assistant
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/3564
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Purchas

435

30 May 1913

John Campbell
Maud Emily Violet Warr

John Campbell
Maud Emily Violet Warr
💍 1913/491

Bachelor
Spinster

Boilermaker
Machinist

29
24

Christchurch
Linwood

6 years
7 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/2296

30 May 1913

Registrar

No	435
Date of Notice	30 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Campbell	Maud Emily Violet Warr
	💍 1913/491
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker	Machinist
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	6 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/2296
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

436

30 May 1913

James Joseph Owens
Ellen Day

James Joseph Owens
Ellen Day
💍 1913/4214

John Somerton
Ellen Day
💍 1914/7086

Bachelor
Spinster

Chauffeur

28
26

Christchurch
Opawa

20 years
Life

St. Mark's Church, Opawa

13/3764

30 May 1913

Rev. H. Williams

No	436
Date of Notice	30 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Joseph Owens	Ellen Day
	💍 1913/4214
BDM Match (64%)	John Somerton	Ellen Day
	💍 1914/7086
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chauffeur
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Opawa
Length of Residence	20 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Opawa
Folio	13/3764
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

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).