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 016

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

719

10 May 1913

William Langdon
Janet Davidson

William Langdon
Janet Davidson
💍 1913/4169

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
domestic duties

56
22

Nesterfield
Lismore

26 years
22 years

St Luke's Church of England, Hinds

13/3726

10 May 1913

Rev. J. H. Rogers, M.A.

No	719
Date of Notice	10 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Langdon	Janet Davidson
	💍 1913/4169
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	domestic duties
Age	56	22
Dwelling Place	Nesterfield	Lismore
Length of Residence	26 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Church of England, Hinds
Folio	13/3726
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Rogers, M.A.

720

15 May 1913

Frederick Henry Arthur Vessey
Jessie Sinclair Johnston

Frederick Arthur Vessey
Jessie Sinclair Johnston
💍 1913/4158

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

27
28

Tinwald
Henington

28 years
10 years

Presbyterian Church, Henington

13/3725

15 May 1913

Rev. J. C. Hill

No	720
Date of Notice	15 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Henry Arthur Vessey	Jessie Sinclair Johnston
BDM Match (90%)	Frederick Arthur Vessey	Jessie Sinclair Johnston
	💍 1913/4158
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Tinwald	Henington
Length of Residence	28 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Henington
Folio	13/3725
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Hill

721

14 May 1913

Frederick Read
Gertrude Maud Stokes

Frederick Read
Gertrude Maud Stokes
💍 1913/4528

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
domestic duties

32
32

Waterton
Greenstreet

52 years
52 years

Methodist Church, Greenstreet

13/4156

14 May 1913

Rev. W. J. Elliott

No	721
Date of Notice	14 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Read	Gertrude Maud Stokes
	💍 1913/4528
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	domestic duties
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Waterton	Greenstreet
Length of Residence	52 years	52 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Greenstreet
Folio	13/4156
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Elliott

722

21 May 1913

George Corimer
Elizabeth Keawson

George Lorimer
Elizabeth Mawson
💍 1913/6815

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

33
23

Methven
Allenton

3 days
3 years

St Stephen's Church of England, Ashburton

13/6253

21 May 1913

Rev. J. R. Bergin

No	722
Date of Notice	21 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Corimer	Elizabeth Keawson
BDM Match (91%)	George Lorimer	Elizabeth Mawson
	💍 1913/6815
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Methven	Allenton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St Stephen's Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	13/6253
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Bergin

723

21 May 1913

James Cuthbert Mercer
Eleanor Jane Grethewey

James Cuthbert Mercer
Eleanor Jane Trethewey
💍 1913/4529

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Engineer
domestic duties

26
24

Waikari
Ashburton

3 days
3 years

Baring Square Church, Ashburton

13/4157

21 May 1913

Rev. W. J. Elliott

No	723
Date of Notice	21 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Cuthbert Mercer	Eleanor Jane Grethewey
BDM Match (98%)	James Cuthbert Mercer	Eleanor Jane Trethewey
	💍 1913/4529
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Engineer	domestic duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Waikari	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Baring Square Church, Ashburton
Folio	13/4157
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Elliott

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).