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 048

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

11 February 1913

William Tizzard
Kate Elizabeth Roper

William Tizzard
Kate Elizabeth Roper
💍 1913/1872

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

37
35

Barr Hill, Rakaia
Halkett

6 months
Life

St. Mary's Church, Addington

13/1411

11 February 1913

Rev. N. S. Bean

No	91
Date of Notice	11 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Tizzard	Kate Elizabeth Roper
	💍 1913/1872
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	37	35
Dwelling Place	Barr Hill, Rakaia	Halkett
Length of Residence	6 months	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	13/1411
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. S. Bean

11 February 1913

Elijah Josiah Richards
Flora Munro

Elijah Josiah Richards
Flora Munro
💍 1913/2361

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Shop Assistant

28
25

Linwood
Spreydon

12 years
20 years

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

13/1904

11 February 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	92
Date of Notice	11 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elijah Josiah Richards	Flora Munro
	💍 1913/2361
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Shop Assistant
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Spreydon
Length of Residence	12 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1904
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

11 February 1913

Selwyn Wyatt Chatfield
Annie Louisa Nitton

Selwyn Wyatt Chatfield
Annie Louisa Witton
💍 1913/785

Divorced
Spinster

Trader

33
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
9 months

Registrars Office, Christchurch

13/190

11 February 1913

Deputy Registrar

No	93
Date of Notice	11 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Selwyn Wyatt Chatfield	Annie Louisa Nitton
BDM Match (97%)	Selwyn Wyatt Chatfield	Annie Louisa Witton
	💍 1913/785
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Trader
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	9 months
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/190
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

12 February 1913

George Stanley Sleeman
Grace Frances Ann Palmer

George Stanley Sleeman
Grace Frances Ann Palmer
💍 1913/2362

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

28
21

Christchurch
Rangiora

3 days
13 years

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

13/1905

12 February 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	94
Date of Notice	12 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Stanley Sleeman	Grace Frances Ann Palmer
	💍 1913/2362
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Rangiora
Length of Residence	3 days	13 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1905
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

12 February 1913

Frank Gordon Coup
Ada Sophia Susan Welch

Frank Gordon Coup
Ada Sophia Susan Welch
💍 1913/786

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Weaver

26
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrars Office, Christchurch

13/191

12 February 1913

Deputy Registrar

No	95
Date of Notice	12 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Gordon Coup	Ada Sophia Susan Welch
	💍 1913/786
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Weaver
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/191
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

13 February 1913

Walter Tilling Boakes
Evaline Eleanor Shaw

Walter Tilling Boakes
Eveline Eleanor Shaw
💍 1913/1992

Bachelor
Spinster

Picture Framer

26
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
Life

House of N. W. H. Shaw, 15 Churchill St., Christchurch

13/1457

Williams Hamilton Shaw, Father

13 February 1913

Rev. C. H. Olds

No	96
Date of Notice	13 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Tilling Boakes	Evaline Eleanor Shaw
BDM Match (98%)	Walter Tilling Boakes	Eveline Eleanor Shaw
	💍 1913/1992
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Picture Framer
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	House of N. W. H. Shaw, 15 Churchill St., Christchurch
Folio	13/1457
Consent	Williams Hamilton Shaw, Father
Date of Certificate	13 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Olds

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).