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 094

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

335

22 April 1913

William Cyrus Davie
Louisa Porter

William Cyrus Davie
Louisa Porter
💍 1913/4155

Divorced
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

39
21

Christchurch
Belfast

3 days
6 months

Mr. Bartlett's house, 45 St. John's Rd., Belfast

13/3681

22 April 1913

Rev. D. Roger

No	335
Date of Notice	22 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Cyrus Davie	Louisa Porter
	💍 1913/4155
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	39	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Belfast
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Mr. Bartlett's house, 45 St. John's Rd., Belfast
Folio	13/3681
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Roger

336

22 April 1913

William John Salkeld
Eva Amelia Campion

William John Salkeld
Eva Amelia Campion
💍 1913/4150

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxidermist

29
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
2 years

Methodist Church, Harewood Rd., Papanui

13/3699

22 April 1913

Rev. A. Peters

No	336
Date of Notice	22 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Salkeld	Eva Amelia Campion
	💍 1913/4150
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxidermist
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Harewood Rd., Papanui
Folio	13/3699
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Peters

337

22 April 1913

Samuel Coleman
Mabel Isabel Clarkson

Samuel Coleman
Mabel Isabel Clarkson
💍 1913/6437

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer's Machinist
Dressmaker

24
22

St. Albans
Christchurch

Life
7 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Cambridge Ter., Christchurch

13/6025

22 April 1913

Rev. B. Metson

No	337
Date of Notice	22 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Coleman	Mabel Isabel Clarkson
	💍 1913/6437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer's Machinist	Dressmaker
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	7 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Cambridge Ter., Christchurch
Folio	13/6025
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Metson

338

22 April 1913

Thomas Morton
Elsie Laurenza O'Callaghan

Thomas Morton
Elsie Laurenza O'Callaghan
💍 1913/497

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

30
22

Belfast
Belfast

4 years
20 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/2279

22 April 1913

Registrar

No	338
Date of Notice	22 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Morton	Elsie Laurenza O'Callaghan
	💍 1913/497
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Belfast	Belfast
Length of Residence	4 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/2279
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

339

22 April 1913

David Potter
Annie Jane Pearson

David Potter
Annie Jane Pearson
💍 1913/4058

Bachelor
Spinster

Guide

44
35

Sydenham
Sydenham

6 weeks
Life

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

13/3584

22 April 1913

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	339
Date of Notice	22 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Potter	Annie Jane Pearson
	💍 1913/4058
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Guide
Age	44	35
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	6 weeks	Life
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	13/3584
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

340

22 April 1913

Arthur Calvert
Rachel Jane Brady

Arthur Calour
Rachel Jane Brady
💍 1913/4028

Bachelor
Spinster

Tinsmith
Tailoress

38
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
Life

St. John's Church, Christchurch

13/3554

22 April 1913

Rev. H. Purchas

No	340
Date of Notice	22 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Calvert	Rachel Jane Brady
BDM Match (89%)	Arthur Calour	Rachel Jane Brady
	💍 1913/4028
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith	Tailoress
Age	38	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/3554
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Purchas

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).