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 050

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

103

15 February 1913

Claude Oliver Rangecroft Carrell
Mabel Ruth Burnside Milne

Claude Olver Rangecroft Carrell
Mabel Ruth Burnside Milne
💍 1913/4615

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Tailoress

25
19

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 days
Life

St. Michaels Church, Christchurch

13/4217

Thomas Milne, Father

15 February 1913

Rev. H.D. Burton

No	103
Date of Notice	15 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude Oliver Rangecroft Carrell	Mabel Ruth Burnside Milne
BDM Match (98%)	Claude Olver Rangecroft Carrell	Mabel Ruth Burnside Milne
	💍 1913/4615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Tailoress
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/4217
Consent	Thomas Milne, Father
Date of Certificate	15 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.D. Burton

104

17 February 1913

Ersca William Hocken
Jessie Ophelia Hyndman

Ersca William Hocken
Jessie Ophelia Hyndman
💍 1913/1882

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

37
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
Life

Residence of Mr. P. Hyndman, 857 Colombo Street, Christchurch

13/1420

17 February 1913

Rev. J. Tail

No	104
Date of Notice	17 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ersca William Hocken	Jessie Ophelia Hyndman
	💍 1913/1882
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	37	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. P. Hyndman, 857 Colombo Street, Christchurch
Folio	13/1420
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tail

105

17 February 1913

George Kennington Sharpe
Pamela Illingworth

George Sharpe Kennington
Pamela Illingworth
💍 1913/1910

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Book-Keeper

55
54

Islington
Islington

4 days
12 years

Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace

13/144

17 February 1913

Rev. J.J. North

No	105
Date of Notice	17 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Kennington Sharpe	Pamela Illingworth
BDM Match (71%)	George Sharpe Kennington	Pamela Illingworth
	💍 1913/1910
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Book-Keeper
Age	55	54
Dwelling Place	Islington	Islington
Length of Residence	4 days	12 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace
Folio	13/144
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J.J. North

106

17 February 1913

Charles Wilfred Forest Dodge
Ellen Mary Bramp

Charles Wilfred Forest Dodge
Ellen Mary Cramp
💍 1913/782

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

26
23

Riccarton
Christchurch

3 years
1 year

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/187

17 February 1913

Registrar

No	106
Date of Notice	17 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Wilfred Forest Dodge	Ellen Mary Bramp
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Wilfred Forest Dodge	Ellen Mary Cramp
	💍 1913/782
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/187
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

107

18 February 1913

William Ronald Bullen
Alice Maud Henderson

William Ronald Bullen
Alice Maud Henderson
💍 1913/2364

William Alexander Blair
Alice Olivia Henderson
💍 1913/6166

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

34
28

Riccarton
Fendalton

3 days
15 years

St. Michaels Church, Christchurch

13/1907

18 February 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	107
Date of Notice	18 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ronald Bullen	Alice Maud Henderson
	💍 1913/2364
BDM Match (62%)	William Alexander Blair	Alice Olivia Henderson
	💍 1913/6166
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Fendalton
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1907
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

108

18 February 1913

Arthur Fleetwood Cook
Ellen Maud Cook

Arthur Fleetwood
Ellen Maud Cook
💍 1913/783

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer

30
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/188

18 February 1913

Registrar

No	108
Date of Notice	18 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Fleetwood Cook	Ellen Maud Cook
BDM Match (88%)	Arthur Fleetwood	Ellen Maud Cook
	💍 1913/783
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	30	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/188
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 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).