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 018

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 June 1913 Registrar William Winsbury White

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

729

31 May 1913

Robert Edward Lynn
Elizabeth Cartwright

Robert Edward Lynn
Elizabeth Cartwright
💍 1913/4122

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
domestic duties

33
36

Allenton
Allenton

15 months
4 years

Presbyterian Manse, Ashburton

13/3721

31 May 1913

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	729
Date of Notice	31 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Edward Lynn	Elizabeth Cartwright
	💍 1913/4122
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	33	36
Dwelling Place	Allenton	Allenton
Length of Residence	15 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Ashburton
Folio	13/3721
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

730

4 June 1913

Noel McKenzie Phillips Gibson
Lucy Cecilia Wroughton

Noel McKenzie Phillips Gibson
Lucy Cecilia Wroughton
💍 1913/6814

Bachelor
Spinster

master
domestic duties

39
31

Ashburton
Ashburton

9 days
3 years

St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton

13/625

4 June 1913

Rev. J. R. Burgein

No	730
Date of Notice	4 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Noel McKenzie Phillips Gibson	Lucy Cecilia Wroughton
	💍 1913/6814
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	master	domestic duties
Age	39	31
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	9 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	13/625
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Burgein

731

4 June 1913

John Peter Whellan
Jessie Glendinning

John Peter McLellan
Jessie Glendinning
💍 1913/4123

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

25
35

Mataura Island
Hampstead

3 days
3 days

At the dwelling of Helen Lindsay, Irverton

13/3722

4 June 1913

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	731
Date of Notice	4 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Peter Whellan	Jessie Glendinning
BDM Match (92%)	John Peter McLellan	Jessie Glendinning
	💍 1913/4123
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	25	35
Dwelling Place	Mataura Island	Hampstead
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of Helen Lindsay, Irverton
Folio	13/3722
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

732

11 June 1913

William Smith
Edith Lois March

William Smith
Edith Lois March
💍 1913/4114

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

32
24

Highbank
Longbeach

3 days
4 months

Methodist Church, Waterton

13/3714

11 June 1913

Rev. B. J. James

No	732
Date of Notice	11 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smith	Edith Lois March
	💍 1913/4114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Highbank	Longbeach
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Waterton
Folio	13/3714
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. J. James

733

14 June 1913

Robert Alexander Page
Mary Elizabeth Crawford

Robert Alexander Page
Mary Elizabeth Crawford
💍 1913/6816

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

54
23

Allenton
Hampstead

54 years
53 years

St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton

13/6254

14 June 1913

Rev. J. R. Burgein

No	733
Date of Notice	14 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Alexander Page	Mary Elizabeth Crawford
	💍 1913/6816
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	54	23
Dwelling Place	Allenton	Hampstead
Length of Residence	54 years	53 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	13/6254
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Burgein

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).