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 2059

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

10 January 1914

Richard Savage
Jessie Hansen

Richard Savage
Jessie Hansen
💍 1914/9140

Widower August 13, 1913
Previously married but not heard of husband for 12 years

Miller
Tailoress

34
40

St. Albans
Beckenham

3 months
1 year

House of Mrs Hansen, 67 Southampton Street, Beckenham, Sydenham

4237

10 January 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	25
Date of Notice	10 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Savage	Jessie Hansen
	💍 1914/9140
Condition	Widower August 13, 1913	Previously married but not heard of husband for 12 years
Profession	Miller	Tailoress
Age	34	40
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Beckenham
Length of Residence	3 months	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Hansen, 67 Southampton Street, Beckenham, Sydenham
Folio	4237
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

12 January 1914

George Montgomery Herrick
Maude Foster

George Montgomery Herrick
Maude Foster
💍 1914/7588

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21
23

Riccarton
Riccarton

1 1/2 years
22 months

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Presbytery, Christchurch

1480

12 January 1914

Rev. J. H. Dignan

No	26
Date of Notice	12 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Montgomery Herrick	Maude Foster
	💍 1914/7588
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	22 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Presbytery, Christchurch
Folio	1480
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Dignan

12 January 1914

William Low
Mary Catherine Kinnaird

William Low
Mary Catherine Kinnaird
💍 1914/7984

Bachelor
Spinster

Chauffeur

34
29

Spreydon
Spreydon

4 days
3 days

St. David's Church, Sydenham

1475

12 January 1914

Rev. C. Murray

No	27
Date of Notice	12 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Low	Mary Catherine Kinnaird
	💍 1914/7984
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chauffeur
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	4 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. David's Church, Sydenham
Folio	1475
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

12 January 1914

Charles Henry Bogle
Mary Margaret Dempsey

Charles Kenny Cogle
Mary Margaret Dempsey
💍 1914/7589

Bachelor
Spinster

Maltster

26
21

Heathcote
Linwood

26 years
21 years

House of Mrs. K. Murray, 10 Clothier Street, Linwood

1481

12 January 1914

Rev. C. Murray

No	28
Date of Notice	12 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Bogle	Mary Margaret Dempsey
BDM Match (92%)	Charles Kenny Cogle	Mary Margaret Dempsey
	💍 1914/7589
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Maltster
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Heathcote	Linwood
Length of Residence	26 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. K. Murray, 10 Clothier Street, Linwood
Folio	1481
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

12 January 1914

Owen Henry Wickham Dawe
Ruby Annette Willis

Owen Henry Wickham Dawe
Ruby Annette Willis
💍 1914/7574

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

28
24

St. Albans
Linwood

1 year
3 years

St. Mark's Church, Opawa

1488

12 January 1914

Rev. H. Williams

No	29
Date of Notice	12 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Owen Henry Wickham Dawe	Ruby Annette Willis
	💍 1914/7574
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Linwood
Length of Residence	1 year	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Opawa
Folio	1488
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

12 January 1914

Percy Hart
Elizabeth Jane Brewer

Percy Hart
Elizabeth Jane Brewer
💍 1914/7573

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28
23

Templeton
Templeton

19 years
23 years

House of Mrs. Brewer, Templeton

1487

12 January 1914

Rev. C. E. Penney

No	30
Date of Notice	12 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Hart	Elizabeth Jane Brewer
	💍 1914/7573
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Templeton	Templeton
Length of Residence	19 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Brewer, Templeton
Folio	1487
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Penney

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).