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 071

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar Frank Evens

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

223

20 March 1913

Albert Percy Pope
Annie Elizabeth Simpson

Albert Percy Pope
Annie Elizabeth Simpson
💍 1913/1978

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter & Paperhanger
Packer

23
28

Sydenham
Woolston

Life
3 years

Sydenham Gospel Mission

13/1467

20 March 1913

M. R. D. Lanyon

No	223
Date of Notice	20 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Percy Pope	Annie Elizabeth Simpson
	💍 1913/1978
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter & Paperhanger	Packer
Age	23	28
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Woolston
Length of Residence	Life	3 years
Marriage Place	Sydenham Gospel Mission
Folio	13/1467
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1913
Officiating Minister	M. R. D. Lanyon

224

20 March 1913

Willie Nicholl
Martha Chambers

Willie Nicholl
Martha Chambers
💍 1913/4041

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

34
18

Hornby
Papanui

5 years
2 years

Presbyterian Church

13/3591

No one in N.Z. x See attached

8 April 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	224
Date of Notice	20 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Willie Nicholl	Martha Chambers
	💍 1913/4041
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	34	18
Dwelling Place	Hornby	Papanui
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	13/3591
Consent	No one in N.Z. x See attached
Date of Certificate	8 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

225

20 March 1913

Alexander Thomas de Roo
Mary Theresa Streeter

Alexander Thomas de Roo
Mary Theresa Streeter
💍 1913/1851

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

21
19

Sydenham
Spreydon

9 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

13/1365

Agnes Streeter, Mother

20 March 1913

Rev. J. W. Price

No	225
Date of Notice	20 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Thomas de Roo	Mary Theresa Streeter
	💍 1913/1851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Spreydon
Length of Residence	9 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	13/1365
Consent	Agnes Streeter, Mother
Date of Certificate	20 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Price

226

22 March 1913

David Seiveright
Mary Stewart

David Sievwright
Mary Stewart
💍 1913/1970

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter & Builder

40
37

Ellesmere, Christchurch Registration District
Ellesmere, Christchurch Registration District

3 days
4 years

House of M. Stewart, Ellesmere

13/1459

22 March 1913

Rev. S. C. Hill

No	226
Date of Notice	22 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Seiveright	Mary Stewart
BDM Match (91%)	David Sievwright	Mary Stewart
	💍 1913/1970
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter & Builder
Age	40	37
Dwelling Place	Ellesmere, Christchurch Registration District	Ellesmere, Christchurch Registration District
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	House of M. Stewart, Ellesmere
Folio	13/1459
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. C. Hill

227

22 March 1913

Charles George Hurley
Helen Reid

Charles George Hurley
Helen Reid
💍 1913/1864

Leonard George Childs
Ellen Reid
💍 1913/5172

Bachelor
Spinster

Boilermaker

22
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 months
3 months

St. Matthews Church, St. Albans

13/1354

22 March 1913

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	227
Date of Notice	22 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles George Hurley	Helen Reid
	💍 1913/1864
BDM Match (61%)	Leonard George Childs	Ellen Reid
	💍 1913/5172
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 months	3 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, St. Albans
Folio	13/1354
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

228

24 March 1913

John Fogarty
Mary Ann Martland

John Fogarty
Mary Ann Mortland
💍 1913/1847

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

13/1361

24 March 1913

Rev. J. W. Price

No	228
Date of Notice	24 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Fogarty	Mary Ann Martland
BDM Match (97%)	John Fogarty	Mary Ann Mortland
	💍 1913/1847
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	13/1361
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Price

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).