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 2073

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

109

17 February 1914

Henry Edward Farrier
Maude Amelia Metcalf Clephane

Henry Edward Farrier
Maude Amelia Metcalf Clephane
💍 1914/7691

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver

25
23

Spreydon
Christchurch

7 years
23 years

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

1833

17 February 1914

Rev. O. Fitzgerald

No	109
Date of Notice	17 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edward Farrier	Maude Amelia Metcalf Clephane
	💍 1914/7691
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	1833
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald

110

18 February 1914

Herbert Sparkes Beaumont
Florena Josephine Bailey

Herbert Sparkes Beaumont
Florence Josephine Bailey
💍 1914/403

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Bookbinder

20
17

Woolston
Riccarton

20 years
9 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

Joshua Beaumont, Father & Charlotte Sarah Hodder formerly Bailey, Mother

18 February 1914

Registrar

No	110
Date of Notice	18 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Sparkes Beaumont	Florena Josephine Bailey
BDM Match (96%)	Herbert Sparkes Beaumont	Florence Josephine Bailey
	💍 1914/403
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Bookbinder
Age	20	17
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Riccarton
Length of Residence	20 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	94
Consent	Joshua Beaumont, Father & Charlotte Sarah Hodder formerly Bailey, Mother
Date of Certificate	18 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

111

18 February 1914

John Nall
Ellen Jessie White

John Hall
Ellen Jessie White
💍 1914/8038

Widower January 2, 1887
Spinster

Clerk

53
33

St. Albans
Papanui

7 years
20 years

St. Paul's Church, Papanui

1529

18 February 1914

Rev. E. H. Shore

No	111
Date of Notice	18 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Nall	Ellen Jessie White
BDM Match (94%)	John Hall	Ellen Jessie White
	💍 1914/8038
Condition	Widower January 2, 1887	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	53	33
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Papanui
Length of Residence	7 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Papanui
Folio	1529
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. H. Shore

112

18 February 1914

Vincent Robert Peters
Ida Beatrice Harris

Vincent Robert Peters
Ida Beatrice Harris
💍 1914/7546

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

23
24

Linwood
St. Albans

Life
Life

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans

1584

18 February 1914

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	112
Date of Notice	18 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vincent Robert Peters	Ida Beatrice Harris
	💍 1914/7546
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Linwood	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans
Folio	1584
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

113

18 February 1914

Reginald Lewis Hulston
Alice Elizabeth Graham

Reginald Lewis Hulston
Alice Elizabeth Graham
💍 1914/8040

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

20
21

Burnham
Templeton

3 years
5 years

Mr. J. H. Patchett's Residence, Templeton

1531

E. H. Hulston, Father

18 February 1914

Rev. C. E. Penney

No	113
Date of Notice	18 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Lewis Hulston	Alice Elizabeth Graham
	💍 1914/8040
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Burnham	Templeton
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Mr. J. H. Patchett's Residence, Templeton
Folio	1531
Consent	E. H. Hulston, Father
Date of Certificate	18 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Penney

114

18 February 1914

John Albert Sheard
Dina Vogel Wilson

John Albert Sheard
Dina Vogel Wilson
💍 1914/8331

Bachelor
Spinster

Woolclasser

28
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
20 years

Methodist Church, Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

1948

John Wilson, Father

18 February 1914

Rev. Stanley Cross

No	114
Date of Notice	18 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Albert Sheard	Dina Vogel Wilson
	💍 1914/8331
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woolclasser
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	1948
Consent	John Wilson, Father
Date of Certificate	18 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Stanley Cross

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).