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 041

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

28 January 1913

Albert Paul Maike
Kathleen Maude Thompson

Albert Paul Maike
Kathleen Maude Thompson
💍 1913/1846

Widower
Spinster

Shunter

31
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
6 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

13/1360

28 January 1913

Rev. J. W. Price

No	55
Date of Notice	28 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Paul Maike	Kathleen Maude Thompson
	💍 1913/1846
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Shunter
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	13/1360
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Price

28 January 1913

Martin Faulls
Ellen Smith

Martin Faulls
Ellen Smith
💍 1913/2530

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool Classer

25
23

Marshland
St. Albans

12 years
5 years

St. Mary's Church, Manchester St, Christchurch

13/2098

28 January 1913

Rev. F. R. Hills

No	56
Date of Notice	28 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin Faulls	Ellen Smith
	💍 1913/2530
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool Classer
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Marshland	St. Albans
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Manchester St, Christchurch
Folio	13/2098
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. R. Hills

29 January 1913

Frederick Fennell
Sarah Annie Frager

Frederick Fennell
Sarah Annie Frazer
💍 1913/1967

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

37
26

St. Albans
St. Albans

3 days
2 years

House of Mr. Twindell, 49 Rutland Street, St. Albans

13/1382

29 January 1913

Rev. A. Hardy Couch

No	57
Date of Notice	29 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Fennell	Sarah Annie Frager
BDM Match (97%)	Frederick Fennell	Sarah Annie Frazer
	💍 1913/1967
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	37	26
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Twindell, 49 Rutland Street, St. Albans
Folio	13/1382
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Hardy Couch

29 January 1913

Charles Robert Killick
Rose Bartlett

Charles Robert Killick
Rose Bartlett
💍 1913/4498

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Laundress

31
24

Linwood
Christchurch

13 years
Life

House of Mr. Bartlett, 153 Chester St, Christchurch

13/4149

29 January 1913

Rev. W. A. Sinclair

No	58
Date of Notice	29 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Robert Killick	Rose Bartlett
	💍 1913/4498
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Laundress
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	13 years	Life
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Bartlett, 153 Chester St, Christchurch
Folio	13/4149
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Sinclair

29 January 1913

George Wilson Catton
Irene Mabel Frances Louisa Brooks

George Wilson Catton
Irene Mabel Frances Louisa Brooks
💍 1913/795

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Photographer

24
23

Bexley
New Brighton

14 years
3 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/199

29 January 1913

Registrar

No	59
Date of Notice	29 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wilson Catton	Irene Mabel Frances Louisa Brooks
	💍 1913/795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Photographer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Bexley	New Brighton
Length of Residence	14 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/199
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

29 January 1913

Joseph Bertram Neale
Iris Hannah Longhurst Miles

Joseph Bertram Neale
Iris Hannah Longbush Miles
💍 1913/4556

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
School Teacher

26
25

Linwood
Sydenham

13 years
Life

St. Saviours Church, Sydenham

13/4109

29 January 1913

Rev. J. J. Cocks

No	60
Date of Notice	29 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Bertram Neale	Iris Hannah Longhurst Miles
BDM Match (94%)	Joseph Bertram Neale	Iris Hannah Longbush Miles
	💍 1913/4556
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	School Teacher
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Sydenham
Length of Residence	13 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Saviours Church, Sydenham
Folio	13/4109
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Cocks

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).