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 076

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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

247

25 March 1913

John Francis Johns
Emma Eliza Kinber

John Francis Johns
Emma Eliza Kimber
💍 1913/4183

Bachelor
Spinster

Sailmaker

26
28

Addington
Riccarton

12 years
3 years

Anglican Church Room, Lower Riccarton

13/3650

25 March 1913

Rev. J. de B. Galway

No	247
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis Johns	Emma Eliza Kinber
BDM Match (97%)	John Francis Johns	Emma Eliza Kimber
	💍 1913/4183
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sailmaker
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Addington	Riccarton
Length of Residence	12 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Room, Lower Riccarton
Folio	13/3650
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. de B. Galway

248

25 March 1913

John Nelson
Rachel Templeton

John Helson
Rachel Templeton
💍 1913/758

Bachelor
Widow

Plasterer

31
37

St Albans
St Albans

6 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/163

25 March 1913

Registrar

No	248
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Nelson	Rachel Templeton
BDM Match (95%)	John Helson	Rachel Templeton
	💍 1913/758
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Plasterer
Age	31	37
Dwelling Place	St Albans	St Albans
Length of Residence	6 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/163
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

249

26 March 1913

Henry Tallott
Lucy Janet Kininmonth

Henry Talbott
Lucy Janet Kunmmonth
💍 1913/4040

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

46
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 day
Life

St Andrews Church, Christchurch

13/3590

26 March 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	249
Date of Notice	26 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Tallott	Lucy Janet Kininmonth
BDM Match (89%)	Henry Talbott	Lucy Janet Kunmmonth
	💍 1913/4040
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	46	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 day	Life
Marriage Place	St Andrews Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/3590
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

250

26 March 1913

Francis Charles Haynes
Reubeha Charles Hayes

Francis Charles Haynes
Reubena Charles Hayes
💍 1913/2349

Bachelor
Spinster

Chauffeur
Dressmaker

22
26

Linwood
Spreydon

5 years
5 years

St Andrews Church, Christchurch

13/1916

26 March 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	250
Date of Notice	26 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Charles Haynes	Reubeha Charles Hayes
BDM Match (98%)	Francis Charles Haynes	Reubena Charles Hayes
	💍 1913/2349
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chauffeur	Dressmaker
Age	22	26
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Spreydon
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1916
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

251

26 March 1913

Arthur John Reece
Eva Evelyn Elsie Wardman

Arthur John Reece
Eva Evelyn Elsie Workman
💍 1913/1891

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
17 days

House of R. Evans, St. Albans, Linwood

13/1406

26 March 1913

Rev. C. H. Olds

No	251
Date of Notice	26 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Reece	Eva Evelyn Elsie Wardman
BDM Match (96%)	Arthur John Reece	Eva Evelyn Elsie Workman
	💍 1913/1891
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	17 days
Marriage Place	House of R. Evans, St. Albans, Linwood
Folio	13/1406
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Olds

252

26 March 1913

Albert Raymond Blake
Louisa Beatrice Cunningham

Albert Raymond Blank
Louisa Beatrice Cunninghame
💍 1913/4863

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolmaster

26
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
13 years

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

13/4441

26 March 1913

Rev. W. A. Pascoe

No	252
Date of Notice	26 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Raymond Blake	Louisa Beatrice Cunningham
BDM Match (93%)	Albert Raymond Blank	Louisa Beatrice Cunninghame
	💍 1913/4863
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	13/4441
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe

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).