Intentions to Marry, 1914 Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840456, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1914 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1914a), Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1914b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1914c).

Page 2031

District of Akaroa Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar Henry George Youngman

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

1 July 1914

Henry Frank Lelievre
Mary Magdalene Regan

Henry Frank Lelievre
Mary Magdalene Regan
💍 1914/2331

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

30
26

German Bay
German Bay

30 years
4 years

Registrar's Office Akaroa

6032

1 July 1914

Henry George Youngman, Registrar

No	9
Date of Notice	1 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Frank Lelievre	Mary Magdalene Regan
	💍 1914/2331
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	German Bay	German Bay
Length of Residence	30 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Akaroa
Folio	6032
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Henry George Youngman, Registrar

11 July 1914

Orton Spencer Wakelin
Athol Frances Pettigrew

Orton Spencer Wakelin
Athol France Pettigrew
💍 1914/4005

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

25
23

Duvauchelle
Barrys Bay

15 years
23 years

at the residence of Mr Robert Allen Pettigrew, Barrys Bay

7889

11 July 1914

Reverend J. W. Hayward, Presbyterian

No	10
Date of Notice	11 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Orton Spencer Wakelin	Athol Frances Pettigrew
BDM Match (98%)	Orton Spencer Wakelin	Athol France Pettigrew
	💍 1914/4005
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Duvauchelle	Barrys Bay
Length of Residence	15 years	23 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Mr Robert Allen Pettigrew, Barrys Bay
Folio	7889
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Reverend J. W. Hayward, Presbyterian

21 July 1914

Ernest Giddens
May Calder Rogers

Ernest Giddens
May Calder Rogers
💍 1914/4113

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

36 years
23 years

French Farm
Wainui

36 years
23 years

Church Building, Wainui

7890

21 July 1914

Reverend J. W. Hayward, Presbyterian

No	11
Date of Notice	21 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Giddens	May Calder Rogers
	💍 1914/4113
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	36 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	French Farm	Wainui
Length of Residence	36 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Church Building, Wainui
Folio	7890
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Reverend J. W. Hayward, Presbyterian

21 August 1914

William James Hoffman
Rosina Cecile Lelievre

William James Hoffman
Cecilia Rosina Lelievre
💍 1914/2329

William James Haley
Sylvia Marie Lelievre
💍 1915/7935

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic duties

42
41

Akaroa
Akaroa

6 weeks
41 years

at the residence of Mrs E. Lelievre, Akaroa

6030

21 August 1914

Reverend S. Bonetto, Roman Catholic

No	12
Date of Notice	21 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Hoffman	Rosina Cecile Lelievre
BDM Match (78%)	William James Hoffman	Cecilia Rosina Lelievre
	💍 1914/2329
BDM Match (65%)	William James Haley	Sylvia Marie Lelievre
	💍 1915/7935
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic duties
Age	42	41
Dwelling Place	Akaroa	Akaroa
Length of Residence	6 weeks	41 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Mrs E. Lelievre, Akaroa
Folio	6030
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Reverend S. Bonetto, Roman Catholic

22 August 1914

Frederick George Harris
Avis Ethel Mason

Frederick George Harris
Avis Ethel Mason
💍 1914/2270

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

23 years
20 years

Okains Bay
Okains Bay

20 years
20 years

St Johns Church of England, Okains Bay

5976

Henry John Mason, Father

26 August 1914

Reverend H. A. Wilkinson, Church of England

No	13
Date of Notice	22 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick George Harris	Avis Ethel Mason
	💍 1914/2270
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	23 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Okains Bay	Okains Bay
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Church of England, Okains Bay
Folio	5976
Consent	Henry John Mason, Father
Date of Certificate	26 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Reverend H. A. Wilkinson, Church of England

28 August 1914

William Corrigall
Olive Mabel McKay

William Corrigall
Olive Mabel McKay
💍 1914/4124

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

32
29

Okains Bay
Okains Bay

4 years
29 years

at the residence of D. P. McKay, Okains Bay

7891

28 August 1914

Reverend J. W. Hayward, Presbyterian

No	14
Date of Notice	28 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Corrigall	Olive Mabel McKay
	💍 1914/4124
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Okains Bay	Okains Bay
Length of Residence	4 years	29 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of D. P. McKay, Okains Bay
Folio	7891
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Reverend J. W. Hayward, Presbyterian

29 September 1914

Francis Gray Armstrong
Kathleen Mary Julius

Francis Gary Armstrong
Kathleen Mary Julius
💍 1914/2330

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

31 years
22 years

Akaroa
Akaroa

31 years
9 years

St Peters Church of England, Akaroa

6031

29 September 1914

Reverend A. H. Julius, Church of England

No	15
Date of Notice	29 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Gray Armstrong	Kathleen Mary Julius
BDM Match (95%)	Francis Gary Armstrong	Kathleen Mary Julius
	💍 1914/2330
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	31 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Akaroa	Akaroa
Length of Residence	31 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St Peters Church of England, Akaroa
Folio	6031
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Reverend A. H. Julius, Church of England

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).