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 098

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

359

26 April 1913

William James French
Annie Smith

William James French
Annie Smith
💍 1913/4048

William Douglas
Annie Smith
💍 1913/780

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

34
24

Riccarton
Spreydon

9 years
Life

St. Andrew's Church Christchurch

13/3597

26 April 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	359
Date of Notice	26 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James French	Annie Smith
	💍 1913/4048
BDM Match (70%)	William Douglas	Annie Smith
	💍 1913/780
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Spreydon
Length of Residence	9 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church Christchurch
Folio	13/3597
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

360

28 April 1913

Robert Henry Ainsworth
Emily May Hern

Robert Henry Ainsworth
Emily May Hern
💍 1913/499

Bachelor
Spinster

Fishmonger

30
22

Sydenham
Sydenham

9 months
9 months

Registrar's Office Christchurch

13/2281

28 April 1913

Registrar

No	360
Date of Notice	28 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Ainsworth	Emily May Hern
	💍 1913/499
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fishmonger
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	9 months	9 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	13/2281
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

361

28 April 1913

Gilbert Lees
Clarice Thayer Wood

Gilbert Lees
Clarice Thayer Wood
💍 1913/4187

Bachelor
Spinster

Manager Meat Export Co.

30
24

Christchurch
St. Albans

4 days
2 years

St. Mary's Church Merivale

13/3662

28 April 1913

Rev. H. E. Ensor

No	361
Date of Notice	28 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Lees	Clarice Thayer Wood
	💍 1913/4187
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manager Meat Export Co.
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	4 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Merivale
Folio	13/3662
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Ensor

362

28 April 1913

John James Weippert Pollard
Maud O'Sullivan Thomson

John James Weippert O'Sullivan Pollard
Maud Thomson
💍 1913/4063

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist
Domestic duties

25
22

Christchurch
Upper Riccarton

14 years
14 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St. Christchurch

13/3613

28 April 1913

Rev. T. W. Price

No	362
Date of Notice	28 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Weippert Pollard	Maud O'Sullivan Thomson
BDM Match (62%)	John James Weippert O'Sullivan Pollard	Maud Thomson
	💍 1913/4063
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist	Domestic duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Upper Riccarton
Length of Residence	14 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St. Christchurch
Folio	13/3613
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Price

363

28 April 1913

John Walsh
Ethel Pitt

John Walsh
Ethel Pitt
💍 1913/6635

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep-drover

26
23

Hornby
Linwood

2 months
4 years

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

13/6322

28 April 1913

Rev. O. Fitzgerald

No	363
Date of Notice	28 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Walsh	Ethel Pitt
	💍 1913/6635
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep-drover
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Hornby	Linwood
Length of Residence	2 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	13/6322
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald

364

28 April 1913

George Waugh
Mary Agnes Johnstone

George Waugh
Mary Agnes Johnstone
💍 1913/500

Bachelor
Divorced

Cook

37
37

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
36 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

13/2282

28 April 1913

Registrar

No	364
Date of Notice	28 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Waugh	Mary Agnes Johnstone
	💍 1913/500
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Cook
Age	37	37
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	36 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	13/2282
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).