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 104

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

395

9 May 1913

Robert Nesham Whitehead
Alameda Hollobon

Robert Nesham Whitehead
Alameda Hollobon
💍 1913/4049

Bachelor
Spinster

Bag Expert

27
21

Christchurch
Fendalton

Life
16 years

St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch

13/3598

9 May 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	395
Date of Notice	9 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Nesham Whitehead	Alameda Hollobon
	💍 1913/4049
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bag Expert
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Fendalton
Length of Residence	Life	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch
Folio	13/3598
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

396

9 May 1913

Richard Charles Hocking
Ann Isabel Anderson

Richard Charles Hocking
Ann Isabel Anderson
💍 1913/4127

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper's Assistant
Tailoress

22
20

Addington
Christchurch

Life
3 months

House of Mrs. Hocking, 10 Macaulay St., Addington

13/3703

Eric Gustaf Anderson, Father

9 May 1913

Rev. A. H. Scotts

No	396
Date of Notice	9 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Charles Hocking	Ann Isabel Anderson
	💍 1913/4127
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper's Assistant	Tailoress
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Addington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	3 months
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Hocking, 10 Macaulay St., Addington
Folio	13/3703
Consent	Eric Gustaf Anderson, Father
Date of Certificate	9 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Scotts

397

10 May 1913

Donald Brooks
Florence Hildyard

Donald Brooks
Florence Hildqard
💍 1913/4050

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

40
33

Linwood
L. Riccarton

5 years
1 1/4 years

St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch

13/3599

10 May 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	397
Date of Notice	10 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Brooks	Florence Hildyard
BDM Match (97%)	Donald Brooks	Florence Hildqard
	💍 1913/4050
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	40	33
Dwelling Place	Linwood	L. Riccarton
Length of Residence	5 years	1 1/4 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch
Folio	13/3599
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

398

10 May 1913

Thomas Henry Clarkson
Laura Letitia Hancock

Thomas Henry Clarkson
Laura Letitia Hancock
💍 1913/482

Bachelor
Spinster

Horsebreaker

26
26

Sydenham
Lr. Riccarton

Life
Life

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/2288

10 May 1913

Registrar

No	398
Date of Notice	10 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Clarkson	Laura Letitia Hancock
	💍 1913/482
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horsebreaker
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Lr. Riccarton
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/2288
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

399

10 May 1913

Francis Holland Barnard
Ethel Rosendale

Francis Holland Barnard
Ethel Rosindale
💍 1913/6632

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Dressmaker

39
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
26 years

Avonside Church, Christchurch

13/6319

10 May 1913

Rev. W. A. Pascoe

No	399
Date of Notice	10 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Holland Barnard	Ethel Rosendale
BDM Match (97%)	Francis Holland Barnard	Ethel Rosindale
	💍 1913/6632
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Dressmaker
Age	39	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Avonside Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/6319
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe

400

12 May 1913

Charles Hunton
Amy Parial

Charles Hunton
Amy Parish
💍 1913/4089

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachbuilder

29
25

Sydenham
Yaldhurst

27 years
Life

Church of England, Yaldhurst

13/3639

12 May 1913

Rev. H. T. York

No	400
Date of Notice	12 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Hunton	Amy Parial
BDM Match (90%)	Charles Hunton	Amy Parish
	💍 1913/4089
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Yaldhurst
Length of Residence	27 years	Life
Marriage Place	Church of England, Yaldhurst
Folio	13/3639
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. T. York

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).