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 034

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

9 January 1913

William Robertson
Annie Barsdell

William Robertson
Annie Barsdell
💍 1913/346

Widower
Widow

Labourer

75
59

Sydenham
Sydenham

8 years
8 weeks

Office of Registrar, Christchurch

13/204

9 January 1913

Registrar

No	19
Date of Notice	9 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robertson	Annie Barsdell
	💍 1913/346
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	75	59
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	8 years	8 weeks
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Christchurch
Folio	13/204
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

10 January 1913

Frederick Willan
Ellen Maud Shepherd

Frederick Willan
Ellen Maud Shepherd
💍 1913/2432

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St. Andrews Church, Christchurch

13/1898

10 January 1913

Rev. F. Rule

No	20
Date of Notice	10 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Willan	Ellen Maud Shepherd
	💍 1913/2432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1898
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Rule

10 January 1913

George Samuel Doleman
Mary Elizabeth Robson

George Samuel Doleman
Mary Elizabeth Robson
💍 1913/5038

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Saleswoman

23
23

Gisborne
Christchurch

23 years
Life

St. John Church, Napier

13/193

10 January 1913

Rev. F. Mayne

No	21
Date of Notice	10 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Samuel Doleman	Mary Elizabeth Robson
	💍 1913/5038
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Saleswoman
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. John Church, Napier
Folio	13/193
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Mayne

11 January 1913

Reuben Mitchell Cameron
Ethel May Stewart

Reuben Mitchell Cameron
Ethel May Stewart
💍 1913/2433

Bachelor
Spinster

Chauffeur
Shop Assistant

31
20

Christchurch
St. Albans

3 years
13 years

St. Andrews Church, Christchurch

13/1899

Ellen Matilda Stewart, mother

11 January 1913

Rev. F. Rule

No	22
Date of Notice	11 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reuben Mitchell Cameron	Ethel May Stewart
	💍 1913/2433
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chauffeur	Shop Assistant
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 years	13 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1899
Consent	Ellen Matilda Stewart, mother
Date of Certificate	11 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Rule

13 January 1913

William John Peters
Christina Peters

William John Peters
Christina Peters
💍 1913/347

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
23

Christchurch
St. Albans

4 days
4 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/205

13 January 1913

Registrar

No	23
Date of Notice	13 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Peters	Christina Peters
	💍 1913/347
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/205
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

13 January 1913

Sidney Tom Hinckesman
Eva Elizabeth Hassall

Sidney Tom Hicksman
Eva Elizabeth Hassall
💍 1913/1959

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Clerk

26
27

Christchurch
St. Albans

6.5 years
5 years

Methodist Church, Papanui Road

13/1397

13 January 1913

Rev. H. Bull

No	24
Date of Notice	13 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Tom Hinckesman	Eva Elizabeth Hassall
BDM Match (95%)	Sidney Tom Hicksman	Eva Elizabeth Hassall
	💍 1913/1959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Clerk
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	6.5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Papanui Road
Folio	13/1397
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Bull

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).