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 2067

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

2 February 1914

Hugh Gavin Melville
Agnes Mary Keane

Hugh Gavin Melville
Agnes Mary Keane
💍 1914/7554

Bachelor
Spinster

Woolclasser

30
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 months
12 months

Presbytery of Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

1641

2 February 1914

Rev. J. W. Price

No	73
Date of Notice	2 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Gavin Melville	Agnes Mary Keane
	💍 1914/7554
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woolclasser
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Presbytery of Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	1641
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Price

2 February 1914

George Finney
Elizabeth Were

George Finney
Elizabeth Were
💍 1914/8004

Bachelor
Spinster

Tobacconist

29
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
24 years

St. Peter's Church Woolston

1519

2 February 1914

Rev. J. McDonald

No	74
Date of Notice	2 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Finney	Elizabeth Were
	💍 1914/8004
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tobacconist
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church Woolston
Folio	1519
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McDonald

3 February 1914

William James Pratt
Eva Rivers

William James Pratt
Eva Rivers
💍 1914/398

Bachelor
Widow Jan 16, 1912

Baker

23
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
Life

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3 February 1914

Registrar

No	75
Date of Notice	3 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Pratt	Eva Rivers
	💍 1914/398
Condition	Bachelor	Widow Jan 16, 1912
Profession	Baker
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	89
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

3 February 1914

William Roy Clark
Nell Simpson

William Roy Clark
Nell Simpson
💍 1914/8309

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Shop Assistant

27
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
3 years

St. Andrew's Manse Christchurch

1924

3 February 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	76
Date of Notice	3 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Roy Clark	Nell Simpson
	💍 1914/8309
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Shop Assistant
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse Christchurch
Folio	1924
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

4 February 1914

Charles Edward Walker
Lilly Collingson Hellewell

Charles Edward Walker
Lilly Collingson Hellewell
💍 1914/7996

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
24

West Melton
Avonside

24 years
13 months

Methodist Church Richmond

1511

4 February 1914

Rev. C. H. Olds

No	77
Date of Notice	4 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Walker	Lilly Collingson Hellewell
	💍 1914/7996
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	West Melton	Avonside
Length of Residence	24 years	13 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Richmond
Folio	1511
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Olds

4 February 1914

Henry Charles Langford
Elsie Evelyn Mills

Henry Charles Langford
Elsie Evelyn Mills
💍 1914/8009

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
School Mistress

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
22 years

St. Mark's Church Opawa

1523

4 February 1914

Rev. H. Williams

No	78
Date of Notice	4 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Charles Langford	Elsie Evelyn Mills
	💍 1914/8009
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	School Mistress
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church Opawa
Folio	1523
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

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).