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 063

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

175

12 March 1913

Harry Edward Owen Sail
Eva Burton Grainger

Harry Edward Owen Sail
Eva Burton Grainger
💍 1913/1890

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter & Joiner
Saleswoman

22
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
11 years

Methodist Church, nr. High St. Christchurch

13/1405

12 March 1913

Rev. C. H. Olds

No	175
Date of Notice	12 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Edward Owen Sail	Eva Burton Grainger
	💍 1913/1890
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter & Joiner	Saleswoman
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, nr. High St. Christchurch
Folio	13/1405
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Olds

176

12 March 1913

Samuel Gard
Dorothy Gertrude Lummis

Samuel Coard
Dorothy Gertrude Lummis
💍 1913/1911

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Milliner

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
Life

Baptist Church, Oxford Ter. Christchurch

13/1449

12 March 1913

Rev. J. J. North

No	176
Date of Notice	12 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Gard	Dorothy Gertrude Lummis
BDM Match (92%)	Samuel Coard	Dorothy Gertrude Lummis
	💍 1913/1911
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Milliner
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	Life
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Oxford Ter. Christchurch
Folio	13/1449
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North

177

12 March 1913

Henry Easton
Mary Eliza Stuart McClintock

Henry Easton
Mary Eliza Stuart McClintock
💍 1913/2345

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
2 years

St. Andrews Church, Christchurch

13/1912

12 March 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	177
Date of Notice	12 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Easton	Mary Eliza Stuart McClintock
	💍 1913/2345
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1912
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

178

12 March 1913

Edward Robert Benjamin Streeter
Annie Pattinson

Edward Robert Benjamin Struter
Annie Pattinson
💍 1913/1844

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

30
30

Halswell
Spreydon

Life
Life

Church of Christ, Durham St. Christchurch

13/1350

12 March 1913

Wm. R. Sellie

No	178
Date of Notice	12 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Robert Benjamin Streeter	Annie Pattinson
BDM Match (97%)	Edward Robert Benjamin Struter	Annie Pattinson
	💍 1913/1844
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Halswell	Spreydon
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Durham St. Christchurch
Folio	13/1350
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Wm. R. Sellie

179

13 March 1913

Herbert John Chisnall
Mary Jamieson

Herbert John Chisnall
Mary Jamieson
💍 1913/2409

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29
23

Yaldhurst
Yaldhurst

Life
Life

St. Luke's Church, Yaldhurst

13/1875

13 March 1913

Rev. H. T. York

No	179
Date of Notice	13 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert John Chisnall	Mary Jamieson
	💍 1913/2409
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Yaldhurst	Yaldhurst
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Yaldhurst
Folio	13/1875
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. T. York

180

13 March 1913

Leonard Norman Hilton
Alice Mary Mapleson

Leonard Norman Hilton
Alice May Mapleson
💍 1913/4857

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

37
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
7 days

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

13/4426

13 March 1913

Rev. O. Fitzgerald

No	180
Date of Notice	13 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Norman Hilton	Alice Mary Mapleson
BDM Match (97%)	Leonard Norman Hilton	Alice May Mapleson
	💍 1913/4857
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	37	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	7 days
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	13/4426
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald

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).