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 2065

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

27 January 1914

Frank McElroy
Margaret Ann Sneddon

Frank McIlroy
Margaret Ann Sneddon
💍 1914/8030

Bachelor
Spinster

Moulder

23
21

Papanui
Papanui

10 years
3 years

Presbyterian Church, Papanui

1527

27 January 1914

Rev D. D. Rodger

No	61
Date of Notice	27 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank McElroy	Margaret Ann Sneddon
BDM Match (96%)	Frank McIlroy	Margaret Ann Sneddon
	💍 1914/8030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Moulder
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Papanui
Folio	1527
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev D. D. Rodger

28 January 1914

William Marcus Grey
Violet Ethel Hogarth

William Marcus Grey
Violet Ethel Hogarth
💍 1914/943

Bachelor
Widow June 18, 1911

Telegraph Lineman

28
27

Woolston
Woolston

1 week
1 month

St. John's Church, Woolston

4586

28 January 1914

Rev W. H. Orbell

No	62
Date of Notice	28 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Marcus Grey	Violet Ethel Hogarth
	💍 1914/943
Condition	Bachelor	Widow June 18, 1911
Profession	Telegraph Lineman
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	1 week	1 month
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Woolston
Folio	4586
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev W. H. Orbell

28 January 1914

John Sherard Toon
Louise Cockle

John Sherard Toon
Louise Cockle
💍 1914/9141

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29
19

Hornby
New Brighton

Life
Life

Anglican Church, New Brighton

4238

Henry George Cockle, Father

28 January 1914

Rev H. N. Matthias

No	63
Date of Notice	28 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sherard Toon	Louise Cockle
	💍 1914/9141
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	19
Dwelling Place	Hornby	New Brighton
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, New Brighton
Folio	4238
Consent	Henry George Cockle, Father
Date of Certificate	28 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev H. N. Matthias

28 January 1914

Edgar Macleod Lovell-Smith
Gertrude Hicks

Edgar MacLeod Lovell-Smith
Gertrude Hicks
💍 1914/396

Bachelor
Spinster

Litho-Artist

38
35

Upper Riccarton
Christchurch

30 years
3 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

28 January 1914

Registrar

No	64
Date of Notice	28 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Macleod Lovell-Smith	Gertrude Hicks
BDM Match (98%)	Edgar MacLeod Lovell-Smith	Gertrude Hicks
	💍 1914/396
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Litho-Artist
Age	38	35
Dwelling Place	Upper Riccarton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	87
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

28 January 1914

George Henry Clements
Amy Letitia Osburn

George Henry Clements
Amy Lilitia Osburn
💍 1914/8005

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Saleswoman

22
23

Halswell
Woolston

17 mos.
16 years

St. Peter's Church, Woolston

1502

28 January 1914

Rev J. McDonald

No	65
Date of Notice	28 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Clements	Amy Letitia Osburn
BDM Match (94%)	George Henry Clements	Amy Lilitia Osburn
	💍 1914/8005
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Saleswoman
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Halswell	Woolston
Length of Residence	17 mos.	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Woolston
Folio	1502
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J. McDonald

29 January 1914

Hugh Thomas Clothier
Neta Edith Maurice

Hugh Thomas Clothier
Neta Edith Maurice
💍 1914/7585

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

23
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
Life

House of Mr Clothier, 366 Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

1498

Ernest Hugh James Maurice, Father

29 January 1914

Rev J. J. North

No	66
Date of Notice	29 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Thomas Clothier	Neta Edith Maurice
	💍 1914/7585
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	House of Mr Clothier, 366 Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	1498
Consent	Ernest Hugh James Maurice, Father
Date of Certificate	29 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J. J. North

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).