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 052

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1913

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

115

20 February 1913

William Semmens Austin
Christina Blair

William Semmens Austin
Christina Blair
💍 1913/2366

Widower
Spinster

Inspector of Schools
Teacher

41
40

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St. Andrews Church Christchurch

13/1909

20 February 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	115
Date of Notice	20 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Semmens Austin	Christina Blair
	💍 1913/2366
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Inspector of Schools	Teacher
Age	41	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church Christchurch
Folio	13/1909
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

116

20 February 1913

Ernest Frederick Fowler
Clara Novella Simpson

Ernest Fredrick Fowler
Clara Norella Simpson
💍 1913/1991

Widower
Spinster

Tailor
Dressmaker

44
42

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
Life

Methodist Church Durham St. N.

13/1456

20 February 1913

Rev. C. H. Olds

No	116
Date of Notice	20 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Frederick Fowler	Clara Novella Simpson
BDM Match (95%)	Ernest Fredrick Fowler	Clara Norella Simpson
	💍 1913/1991
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Dressmaker
Age	44	42
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Durham St. N.
Folio	13/1456
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Olds

117

20 February 1913

Francis Keith Warburton Wilson
Elsie Maud Hobbs

Francis Keith Masterton Wilson
Elsie Maud Hobbs
💍 1913/1944

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

21
20

Waltham
Sydenham

21 years
20 years

House of N. Patrick, Tilford Street, Woolston

13/1375

Elizabeth Hobbs, Mother

20 February 1913

Rev. J. McDonald

No	117
Date of Notice	20 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Keith Warburton Wilson	Elsie Maud Hobbs
BDM Match (93%)	Francis Keith Masterton Wilson	Elsie Maud Hobbs
	💍 1913/1944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Waltham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	21 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of N. Patrick, Tilford Street, Woolston
Folio	13/1375
Consent	Elizabeth Hobbs, Mother
Date of Certificate	20 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McDonald

118

20 February 1913

David Hutchison Crouch
Margaret Emslie

David Hutchinson Crouch
Margaret Emslie
💍 1913/801

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

39
32

St. Albans
St. Albans

5 years
2 years

Office of Registrar Christchurch

13/182

20 February 1913

Registrar

No	118
Date of Notice	20 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Hutchison Crouch	Margaret Emslie
BDM Match (98%)	David Hutchinson Crouch	Margaret Emslie
	💍 1913/801
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	39	32
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar Christchurch
Folio	13/182
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

119

21 February 1913

Andrew Page
Isabella Kirkland McLaren

Andrew Page
Isabella Kirkland McLaren
💍 1913/1881

Bachelor
Spinster

Express Driver

33
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year 5 months
6 months

St. Paul's Church Christchurch

13/1419

21 February 1913

Rev. J. Tait

No	119
Date of Notice	21 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Page	Isabella Kirkland McLaren
BDM Match (98%)	Andrew Page	Isabella Kirkland McLaren
	💍 1913/1881
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Express Driver
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year 5 months	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Christchurch
Folio	13/1419
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tait

120

21 February 1913

George Goold Garrick
Ellen Roberts

George Gerald Garrick
Ellen Roberts
💍 1913/802

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
8 years

Office of Registrar Christchurch

13/183

21 February 1913

Registrar

No	120
Date of Notice	21 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Goold Garrick	Ellen Roberts
BDM Match (93%)	George Gerald Garrick	Ellen Roberts
	💍 1913/802
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar Christchurch
Folio	13/183
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).