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 012

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 March 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

698

22 March 1913

Herbert Story
Amy Marina Macknight

Herbert Story
Amy Marina MacKnight
💍 1913/946

Bachelor
Divorced

Book Keeper
domestic duties

43
35

Westerfield
Westerfield

9 years
5 years

Office of the Registrar, Ashburton

13/329

22 March 1913

W. W. White, Registrar

No	698
Date of Notice	22 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Story	Amy Marina Macknight
BDM Match (98%)	Herbert Story	Amy Marina MacKnight
	💍 1913/946
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Book Keeper	domestic duties
Age	43	35
Dwelling Place	Westerfield	Westerfield
Length of Residence	9 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Ashburton
Folio	13/329
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1913
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

699

25 March 1913

Alexander Donald Wilson
Ellen Smith

Alexander Donald Wilson
Ellen Smith
💍 1913/1820

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

35
24

Hampstead
Ashburton

36 years
54 years

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church

13/334

25 March 1913

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	699
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Donald Wilson	Ellen Smith
	💍 1913/1820
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Hampstead	Ashburton
Length of Residence	36 years	54 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Presbyterian Church
Folio	13/334
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

700

25 March 1913

William McGee
Margaret Rodd

William McGee
Margaret Rodd
💍 1913/947

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

33
31

Winslow
Winslow

33 years
21 years

Office of the Registrar, Ashburton

13/330

25 March 1913

W. W. White, Registrar

No	700
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McGee	Margaret Rodd
	💍 1913/947
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Winslow	Winslow
Length of Residence	33 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Ashburton
Folio	13/330
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

701

26 March 1913

Arthur Cedric Wallis
Emily Thompson

Arthur Cedric Wallis
Emily Thompson
💍 1913/1821

Widower
Spinster

Storekeeper
domestic duties

30
22

Pio Pio, Taumarunui
Ashburton

3 days
3 weeks

At the dwelling of George Thompson, Netherby

13/335

26 March 1913

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	701
Date of Notice	26 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Cedric Wallis	Emily Thompson
	💍 1913/1821
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	domestic duties
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Pio Pio, Taumarunui	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of George Thompson, Netherby
Folio	13/335
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

702

29 March 1913

Edward Bibby
Alice Mabel Fox

Edward Bibby
Alice Mabel Fox
💍 1913/1840

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep farmer
domestic duties

49
39

Hawk Bay
Tinwald

3 days
2 years

St. Andrews Church of England, Tinwald

13/330

29 March 1913

Rev. B. G. Fox

No	702
Date of Notice	29 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Bibby	Alice Mabel Fox
	💍 1913/1840
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep farmer	domestic duties
Age	49	39
Dwelling Place	Hawk Bay	Tinwald
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church of England, Tinwald
Folio	13/330
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. G. Fox

703

29 March 1913

Albert Henry Dalton
Elizabeth Jane Mellor

Albert Henry Walton
Elizabeth Jane Mellor
💍 1913/1841

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

34
38

Ashburton
Ashburton

34 years
17 years

Baptist Church

13/331

29 March 1913

Rev. James Ings

No	703
Date of Notice	29 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Henry Dalton	Elizabeth Jane Mellor
BDM Match (97%)	Albert Henry Walton	Elizabeth Jane Mellor
	💍 1913/1841
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	34	38
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	34 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church
Folio	13/331
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Ings

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).