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 061

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

163

8 March 1913

Reginald Gibbs
Ada Masters

Cyril Tune
Ada Masters
💍 1913/6918

Bachelor
Spinster

Coal merchant etc.
Typiste

26
22

Sydenham
St. Albans

Life
7 years

Methodist Church of Papanui Road, Rugby St. Albans

13/1395

8 March 1913

Rev. H. Bellhouse

No	163
Date of Notice	8 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Gibbs	Ada Masters
BDM Match (61%)	Cyril Tune	Ada Masters
	💍 1913/6918
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coal merchant etc.	Typiste
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	7 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church of Papanui Road, Rugby St. Albans
Folio	13/1395
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Bellhouse

164

8 March 1913

Harry Daniel Richards
Florence Louisa Richards

Harry Daniel
Florence Louisa Richards
💍 1913/4216

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Machinist

26
23

Woolston
Linwood

16 years
6 years

St. Mark's Church, Opawa

13/1366

8 March 1913

Rev. H. Williams

No	164
Date of Notice	8 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Daniel Richards	Florence Louisa Richards
BDM Match (79%)	Harry Daniel	Florence Louisa Richards
	💍 1913/4216
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Machinist
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Linwood
Length of Residence	16 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Opawa
Folio	13/1366
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

165

8 March 1913

Edmund John Newman
Harriet Ernestine Brown

Edmund John Newman
Harriet Ernestine Brown
💍 1913/1898

Bachelor
Spinster

Fish Salesman

29
30

St. Albans
Linwood

10 years
20 years

St. John's Church, Christchurch

13/1437

8 March 1913

Rev. H. Purchas

No	165
Date of Notice	8 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund John Newman	Harriet Ernestine Brown
	💍 1913/1898
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fish Salesman
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Linwood
Length of Residence	10 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1437
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Purchas

166

10 March 1913

Malcolm Gillies
Margaret Gillies

Malcolm Gillies
Margaret Gillies
💍 1913/1876

Bachelor
Spinster

Land Salesman

32
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
6 years

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

13/1415

10 March 1913

Rev. T. Tait

No	166
Date of Notice	10 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Malcolm Gillies	Margaret Gillies
	💍 1913/1876
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land Salesman
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1415
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Tait

167

10 March 1913

Henry Alexander Grant
Winifred Instone

Henry Alexander Grant
Winifred Instone
💍 1913/1877

Bachelor
Spinster

School Teacher
Nurse

49
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
6 years

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

13/1416

10 March 1913

Rev. T. Tait

No	167
Date of Notice	10 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Alexander Grant	Winifred Instone
	💍 1913/1877
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School Teacher	Nurse
Age	49	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1416
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Tait

168

10 March 1913

William Robb
Hellen Snedden Mitchell

William Robb
Hellen Snedden Mitchell
💍 1913/1836

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Dressmaker

31
26

Shirley
Shirley

6 years
Life

Church of Christ, Durham St.

13/1349

10 March 1913

Rev. D. Mc Nicoll

No	168
Date of Notice	10 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robb	Hellen Snedden Mitchell
	💍 1913/1836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Dressmaker
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Shirley	Shirley
Length of Residence	6 years	Life
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Durham St.
Folio	13/1349
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Mc Nicoll

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).