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 032

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

6 January 1913

Emil Samuel Arthur Yde
Frances Harris

Emil Samuel Arthur Tele
Frances Harris
💍 1913/2526

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

28
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 weeks
6 months

St. Marys Church, Manchester St. Christchurch

13/2095

6 January 1913

Rev. F. Hills

No	7
Date of Notice	6 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Emil Samuel Arthur Yde	Frances Harris
BDM Match (94%)	Emil Samuel Arthur Tele	Frances Harris
	💍 1913/2526
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 weeks	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Marys Church, Manchester St. Christchurch
Folio	13/2095
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Hills

6 January 1913

Robert Henry Edgeworth Blackmore
Annie Laraman

Robert Henry Edgeworth
Annie Blackmore Laraman
💍 1913/349

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

34
35

Linwood
Linwood

6 weeks
Life

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/207

6 January 1913

Registrar

No	8
Date of Notice	6 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Edgeworth Blackmore	Annie Laraman
BDM Match (63%)	Robert Henry Edgeworth	Annie Blackmore Laraman
	💍 1913/349
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	34	35
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	6 weeks	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/207
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

6 January 1913

Charles Edward Wright
Margaret Rosina Nevin

Charles Edward Wright
Margaret Rosina Nevin
💍 1913/1835

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Clerk

29
25

Merivale
Linwood

4 years
Life

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

13/1346

6 January 1913

Rev. T. W. Price

No	9
Date of Notice	6 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Wright	Margaret Rosina Nevin
	💍 1913/1835
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Clerk
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Merivale	Linwood
Length of Residence	4 years	Life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	13/1346
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Price

7 January 1913

Francis Edward Tucker
Alice Ada Allen

Francis Edward Tucker
Ada Alice Allen
💍 1913/1895

Bachelor
Spinster

Stone mason
Dressmaker

30
31

Linwood
Christchurch

5 years
2 years

St. Johns Church, Christchurch

13/1430

7 January 1913

Rev. H. Purchas

No	10
Date of Notice	7 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Edward Tucker	Alice Ada Allen
BDM Match (73%)	Francis Edward Tucker	Ada Alice Allen
	💍 1913/1895
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stone mason	Dressmaker
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/1430
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Purchas

7 January 1913

Charles Inman Probert
Ethel Frere Gladys Blathwayt

Charles Inman Probert
Ethel Frere Gladys Blathwayt
💍 1913/350

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist & Druggist

34
24

Papanui
Sumner

8 months
11 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

13/208

7 January 1913

Registrar

No	11
Date of Notice	7 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Inman Probert	Ethel Frere Gladys Blathwayt
	💍 1913/350
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist & Druggist
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Sumner
Length of Residence	8 months	11 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	13/208
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

7 January 1913

Athol Ernest Clarence Shannon
Sara Olivia Gladys Brown

Athol Ernest Clarence Shannon
Sara Olivia Gladys Brown
💍 1913/1953

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
28 years

Methodist Church, Durham St. Christchurch

13/1392

7 January 1913

Rev. C. H. Laws

No	12
Date of Notice	7 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Athol Ernest Clarence Shannon	Sara Olivia Gladys Brown
	💍 1913/1953
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	28 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Durham St. Christchurch
Folio	13/1392
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Laws

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).