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 2071

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

11 February 1914

Sydney Crompton Smith
Mary Margaret Ashworth

Sydney Crompton Smith
Mary Margaret Ashworth
💍 1914/7999

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

39
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Anglican Church Merivale

1514

John James Ashworth Father

11 February 1914

Rev. J. Hay

No	97
Date of Notice	11 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Crompton Smith	Mary Margaret Ashworth
	💍 1914/7999
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	39	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Merivale
Folio	1514
Consent	John James Ashworth Father
Date of Certificate	11 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hay

11 February 1914

Arthur Russell Standish
Jessie Cathro Hogg

Arthur Russell Standish
Jessie Cathro Hogg
💍 1914/7998

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

36
26

Christchurch
New Brighton

4 days
8 months

St Paul's Presbyterian Church Christchurch

1513

11 February 1914

Rev. J. Tait

No	98
Date of Notice	11 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Russell Standish	Jessie Cathro Hogg
	💍 1914/7998
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	New Brighton
Length of Residence	4 days	8 months
Marriage Place	St Paul's Presbyterian Church Christchurch
Folio	1513
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tait

11 February 1914

Charles David Boyd
Jane Ann Whitham

Charles David Boyd
Jane Ann Whitham
💍 1914/7997

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

26
27

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 days
18 months

St David's Church Sydenham

1512

11 February 1914

Rev. C. Murray

No	99
Date of Notice	11 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles David Boyd	Jane Ann Whitham
	💍 1914/7997
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	St David's Church Sydenham
Folio	1512
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

100

12 February 1914

Ernest Drewery
Bessie Marion Everest

Ernest Drewery
Bessie Marion Everest
💍 1914/8006

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

30
20

Ellesmere
Springston

14 years
20 years

St Paul's Church Christchurch

1520

Thomas Everest Father

12 February 1914

Rev. J. Tait

No	100
Date of Notice	12 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Drewery	Bessie Marion Everest
	💍 1914/8006
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Ellesmere	Springston
Length of Residence	14 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church Christchurch
Folio	1520
Consent	Thomas Everest Father
Date of Certificate	12 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tait

101

12 February 1914

John Joyce
Mary Wilson

John Joyce
Mary Wilson
💍 1914/8010

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Clerk

34
28

Papanui
Christchurch

34 years
14 years

St Luke's Church Christchurch

1524

12 February 1914

Rev. F. N. Taylor

No	101
Date of Notice	12 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joyce	Mary Wilson
	💍 1914/8010
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Clerk
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Christchurch
Length of Residence	34 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Church Christchurch
Folio	1524
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. N. Taylor

102

13 February 1914

John Henry Knight
Annie Gibb

John Henry Knight
Annie Gibb
💍 1914/8007

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman

24
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

13 years
4 years

House of Mr Forsyth 353 Montreal St Christchurch

1521

13 February 1914

Rev. J. Tait

No	102
Date of Notice	13 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Knight	Annie Gibb
	💍 1914/8007
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman
Age	24	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	13 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Forsyth 353 Montreal St Christchurch
Folio	1521
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tait

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).