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 065

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

187

14 March 1913

Renben Oliver Rowlands
Ellen Finlay

Reuben Oliver Rowlands
Ellen Finlay
💍 1913/1983

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Waitress

22
25

Christchurch
Riccarton

4 years
1 year

House of the Finlay, Avonhead Rd

13/1471

14 March 1913

Rev. A. Peters

No	187
Date of Notice	14 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Renben Oliver Rowlands	Ellen Finlay
BDM Match (98%)	Reuben Oliver Rowlands	Ellen Finlay
	💍 1913/1983
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Waitress
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	4 years	1 year
Marriage Place	House of the Finlay, Avonhead Rd
Folio	13/1471
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Peters

188

14 March 1913

John William Graham
Sarah Elizabeth Milne Murray

John William Graham
Sarah Elizabeth Milne
💍 1913/1975

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Clerk
Dressmaker

31
28

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 years
Life

House of Mr. J. Milne, Kingsley St.

13/1464

14 March 1913

Rev. C. Murray

No	188
Date of Notice	14 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Graham	Sarah Elizabeth Milne Murray
BDM Match (88%)	John William Graham	Sarah Elizabeth Milne
	💍 1913/1975
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 years	Life
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Milne, Kingsley St.
Folio	13/1464
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

189

15 March 1913

William Travers Whithair
Agnes Morris

William Stavars Whithair
Agnes Morris
💍 1913/4105

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

32
33

Spreydon
Christchurch

2 years
3 years

St. Mary's Church, Addington

13/3634

15 March 1913

Rev. W. S. Bean

No	189
Date of Notice	15 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Travers Whithair	Agnes Morris
BDM Match (94%)	William Stavars Whithair	Agnes Morris
	💍 1913/4105
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	13/3634
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean

190

15 March 1913

Alexander Craig Wilson
Catherine Olive Fox

Alexander Craik Wilson
Catherine Olive Fox
💍 1913/2346

Bachelor
Spinster

Coal Merchant

28
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
20 years

St. Andrews Church, Christchurch

13/1913

15 March 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	190
Date of Notice	15 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Craig Wilson	Catherine Olive Fox
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander Craik Wilson	Catherine Olive Fox
	💍 1913/2346
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coal Merchant
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1913
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

191

15 March 1913

John Loudon
Florence Martha Parker

John London
Florence Martha Parker
💍 1913/4868

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

21
18

St. Albans
Linwood

14 years
13 years

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

13/442

John Parker, Father

15 March 1913

Rev. O. Fitzgerald

No	191
Date of Notice	15 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Loudon	Florence Martha Parker
BDM Match (95%)	John London	Florence Martha Parker
	💍 1913/4868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Linwood
Length of Residence	14 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	13/442
Consent	John Parker, Father
Date of Certificate	15 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald

192

15 March 1913

George Henry Birch
Florence Lily Roberts

George Henry Birch
Florence Lily Roberts
💍 1913/4536

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
Dressmaker

26
27

Fendalton
Merivale

10 years
1 year

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

13/4112

15 March 1913

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	192
Date of Notice	15 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Birch	Florence Lily Roberts
	💍 1913/4536
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	Dressmaker
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	Merivale
Length of Residence	10 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	13/4112
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

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).