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 043

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

3 February 1913

Walter William Nenson
Ethel Marion Piper

Walter William Henson
Ethel Harriet Piper
💍 1913/1886

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Machinist

25
36

Opawa
Woolston

18 months
2 years

St. Marks Church, Opawa

13/1424

3 February 1913

Rev. N. Williams

No	67
Date of Notice	3 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter William Nenson	Ethel Marion Piper
BDM Match (87%)	Walter William Henson	Ethel Harriet Piper
	💍 1913/1886
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Machinist
Age	25	36
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Woolston
Length of Residence	18 months	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Marks Church, Opawa
Folio	13/1424
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. Williams

3 February 1913

William Henry Lake
Mary Jane O'Boyle

William Henry Lake
Mary Jane O'Boyle
💍 1913/2532

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
30

Upper Riccarton
Upper Riccarton

20 years
4 years

St. Mary's Church, Christchurch

13/2100

3 February 1913

Rev. R. Hoare

No	68
Date of Notice	3 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Lake	Mary Jane O'Boyle
	💍 1913/2532
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Upper Riccarton	Upper Riccarton
Length of Residence	20 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/2100
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Hoare

3 February 1913

Thomas Aspell
Annie Philomena Watson

Thomas Aspell
Annie Philomena Watson
💍 1913/1952

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotel Keeper

30
20

Springston
Springston

1 year
1 year

Roman Catholic Church, Lincoln

13/1391

Annie Watson, Mother

3 February 1913

Rev. J. B. Daull

No	69
Date of Notice	3 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Aspell	Annie Philomena Watson
	💍 1913/1952
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Keeper
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Springston	Springston
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Lincoln
Folio	13/1391
Consent	Annie Watson, Mother
Date of Certificate	3 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Daull

4 February 1913

Douglas McWilliam
Rhoda Julia Gates

Douglas McWilliam
Rhoda Julia Gates
💍 1913/1972

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Enameller

22
19

Opawa
Lydenham

2 years
13 years

House of J. Carmichael, Waverley St., Sydenham

13/1461

George Gates, Father

4 February 1913

Mr. D. R. Lanyon

No	70
Date of Notice	4 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas McWilliam	Rhoda Julia Gates
	💍 1913/1972
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Enameller
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Lydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	13 years
Marriage Place	House of J. Carmichael, Waverley St., Sydenham
Folio	13/1461
Consent	George Gates, Father
Date of Certificate	4 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Mr. D. R. Lanyon

4 February 1913

Maurice James O'Connell
Louisa Mary Henderson

Maurice James O'Connell
Louise Mary Henderson
💍 1913/1829

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

25
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
15 months

Knox Church Manse, Christchurch

13/1343

4 February 1913

Rev. R. Erwin

No	71
Date of Notice	4 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maurice James O'Connell	Louisa Mary Henderson
BDM Match (98%)	Maurice James O'Connell	Louise Mary Henderson
	💍 1913/1829
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	15 months
Marriage Place	Knox Church Manse, Christchurch
Folio	13/1343
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin

4 February 1913

Francis John Barnes
Maud Stanley Weaver

Francis John Barnes
Maud Stanley Weaver
💍 1913/794

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith Improver

20
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
Life

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/198

18 February 1913

Registrar

No	72
Date of Notice	4 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis John Barnes	Maud Stanley Weaver
	💍 1913/794
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith Improver
Age	20	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/198
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).