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 2043

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar William Wilsbury 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

2 July 1914

John Hamilton Moffat
Esther Lilian Heard Hansen

John Hamilton Moffat
Esther Lillian Maude Hansen
💍 1914/5871

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
domestic duties

30
20

Methven
Hinds

6 years
20 years

St Luke's Church of England Hinds

3282

Christian Ludvig Hansen father of minor

2 July 1914

Rev. G. B. Nanson

No	35
Date of Notice	2 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hamilton Moffat	Esther Lilian Heard Hansen
BDM Match (91%)	John Hamilton Moffat	Esther Lillian Maude Hansen
	💍 1914/5871
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	domestic duties
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Methven	Hinds
Length of Residence	6 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Church of England Hinds
Folio	3282
Consent	Christian Ludvig Hansen father of minor
Date of Certificate	2 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Nanson

6 July 1914

Athole Douglas Bain
Millicent Frew

Athole Douglas Bain
Millicent Frew
💍 1914/2323

Bachelor
Spinster

Jockey
domestic duties

22
18

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 years
18 years

Office of the Registrar Ashburton

6047

William John Frew father of minor

6 July 1914

W. W. White Registrar

No	36
Date of Notice	6 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Athole Douglas Bain	Millicent Frew
	💍 1914/2323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jockey	domestic duties
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar Ashburton
Folio	6047
Consent	William John Frew father of minor
Date of Certificate	6 July 1914
Officiating Minister	W. W. White Registrar

6 July 1914

Ernest Henry Langlands
Louisa Jane Robinson

Ernest Henry Lauglands
Louisa Jane Robinson
💍 1914/2352

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist
Fruiterer

37
35

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 years
35 years

Methodist Church Wills Street Ashburton

6053

6 July 1914

Rev. J. D. McArthur

No	37
Date of Notice	6 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Henry Langlands	Louisa Jane Robinson
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest Henry Lauglands	Louisa Jane Robinson
	💍 1914/2352
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist	Fruiterer
Age	37	35
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 years	35 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Wills Street Ashburton
Folio	6053
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. McArthur

7 July 1914

George Brand
Alice Elizabeth Smith

George Brand
Alice Elizabeth Smith
💍 1914/2314

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

55
22

Wakanui
Longbeach

1 month
21 years

Church of England Longbeach

6039

7 July 1914

Rev. H. B. Jones

No	38
Date of Notice	7 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Brand	Alice Elizabeth Smith
	💍 1914/2314
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	55	22
Dwelling Place	Wakanui	Longbeach
Length of Residence	1 month	21 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Longbeach
Folio	6039
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Jones

8 July 1914

Richard Geoffrey Alington
Catherine Ruby Claridge

Richard Geoffrey Alington
Catherine Ruby Claridge
💍 1914/5257

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
domestic duties

30
21

Ashburton
Ashburton

14 years
20 years

St Stephens Church of England Ashburton

9159

8 July 1914

Rev. J. R. Burgin

No	39
Date of Notice	8 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Geoffrey Alington	Catherine Ruby Claridge
	💍 1914/5257
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	domestic duties
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	14 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church of England Ashburton
Folio	9159
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Burgin

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).