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 2057

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar Frank Evans

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

8 January 1914

Walter Edward Cole
Vida Zillah Jane Trimmer

Walter Edward Cole
Vida Zillah June Primmer
💍 1914/7983

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

20
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
4 days

House of Mrs Cole, 51 Matheson's Rd. Linwood

1474

George Cole, Father, & Jane Walker Trimmer, Mother

8 January 1914

Rev. J. M. Donald

No	13
Date of Notice	8 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Edward Cole	Vida Zillah Jane Trimmer
BDM Match (96%)	Walter Edward Cole	Vida Zillah June Primmer
	💍 1914/7983
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Cole, 51 Matheson's Rd. Linwood
Folio	1474
Consent	George Cole, Father, & Jane Walker Trimmer, Mother
Date of Certificate	8 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Donald

8 January 1914

John Schimanski
Annie Jane Austin

John Schimanski
Annie Jane Austin
💍 1914/8018

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
25

Marshland
Christchurch

29 years
13 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch

1509

8 January 1914

Rev. F. Hills

No	14
Date of Notice	8 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Schimanski	Annie Jane Austin
	💍 1914/8018
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Marshland	Christchurch
Length of Residence	29 years	13 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch
Folio	1509
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Hills

8 January 1914

Sidney Robinson
Georgina Mabel Brockett

Sidney Robinson
Georgina Mabel Brockett
💍 1914/7982

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

24
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
Life

St. John's Church, Christchurch

1473

8 January 1914

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	15
Date of Notice	8 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Robinson	Georgina Mabel Brockett
	💍 1914/7982
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	1473
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

9 January 1914

Gordon Simmons
Catherine Bates

Gordon Simmons
Catherine Bates
💍 1914/411

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Cook

25
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 weeks
2 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

9 January 1914

Registrar

No	16
Date of Notice	9 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Simmons	Catherine Bates
	💍 1914/411
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Cook
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	78
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

9 January 1914

Frederick Charles Thiele
Almeida Emma Allpress

Frederick Charles Thiele
Almeida Emma Allpress
💍 1914/7590

Widower May 17, 1910
Spinster

Postal Clerk

34
28

Avonside
Linwood

34 years
20 years

Trinity Congregational Church, Christchurch

1482

9 January 1914

Rev. H. Johnson

No	17
Date of Notice	9 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Charles Thiele	Almeida Emma Allpress
	💍 1914/7590
Condition	Widower May 17, 1910	Spinster
Profession	Postal Clerk
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Avonside	Linwood
Length of Residence	34 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Congregational Church, Christchurch
Folio	1482
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Johnson

9 January 1914

Thomas Kelly
Williamina Halls Steel

Thomas Kelly
Williamina Halls Steel
💍 1914/9401

Widower May 6, 1911
Widow June 17, 1901

Farmer
Nurse

59
48

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
12 1/2 years

House of Mrs Deans, 42 Heywood Tce. Christchurch

4495

9 January 1914

Rev. J. Cocker

No	18
Date of Notice	9 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Kelly	Williamina Halls Steel
	💍 1914/9401
Condition	Widower May 6, 1911	Widow June 17, 1901
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	59	48
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	12 1/2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Deans, 42 Heywood Tce. Christchurch
Folio	4495
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cocker

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).