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 2081

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

157

9 March 1914

Angus Harold Sharp
Elsie May Dolls

Angus Harold Sharp
Elsie May Dobbs
💍 1914/8339

Bachelor
Spinster

Minister
Music Teacher

28
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
20 years

Methodist Church Sydenham

1931

9 March 1914

Rev. C. E. Ward

No	157
Date of Notice	9 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Angus Harold Sharp	Elsie May Dolls
BDM Match (93%)	Angus Harold Sharp	Elsie May Dobbs
	💍 1914/8339
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Minister	Music Teacher
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Sydenham
Folio	1931
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward

158

9 March 1914

Henry Oliver Peskett
Lily Hannah Hockey

Henry Oliver Perkett
Lily Hannah Hockey
💍 1914/8093

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant

37
33

Papanui
Papanui

6 months
28 years

Harewood Anglican Church Harewood

1609

9 March 1914

Rev. W. H. Orbell

No	158
Date of Notice	9 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Oliver Peskett	Lily Hannah Hockey
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Oliver Perkett	Lily Hannah Hockey
	💍 1914/8093
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant
Age	37	33
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	6 months	28 years
Marriage Place	Harewood Anglican Church Harewood
Folio	1609
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Orbell

159

10 March 1914

William Keith
Jessie Milne

William Keith
Jessie Milne
💍 1914/8090

Widower 10-9-1900
Spinster

Retired Farmer
Drapery Saleswoman

60
42

Papanui
Christchurch

18 years
2 years

House of Mr J. Richardson, 22 Buccleugh St. Linwood

1606

10 March 1914

Rev. A. Peters

No	159
Date of Notice	10 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Keith	Jessie Milne
	💍 1914/8090
Condition	Widower 10-9-1900	Spinster
Profession	Retired Farmer	Drapery Saleswoman
Age	60	42
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr J. Richardson, 22 Buccleugh St. Linwood
Folio	1606
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Peters

160

10 March 1914

Robert Bryson
Mary Elizabeth Wells

Robert Bryson
Mary Elizabeth Wells
💍 1914/8329

Bachelor
Spinster

Physician Surgeon

36
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
6 weeks

St. Andrews Church Christchurch

1927

10 March 1914

Rev. J. MacKenzie

No	160
Date of Notice	10 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Bryson	Mary Elizabeth Wells
	💍 1914/8329
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Physician Surgeon
Age	36	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church Christchurch
Folio	1927
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. MacKenzie

161

10 March 1914

Allan Thomas Foster
Daisy Randall

Allan Thomas Foster
Diny Randall
💍 1914/556

George Thomas Stringer
Fanny Randall
💍 1914/2481

Bachelor
Spinster

Produce Dealer

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
Life

Registrar's Office Christchurch

246

10 March 1914

Registrar

No	161
Date of Notice	10 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Thomas Foster	Daisy Randall
BDM Match (92%)	Allan Thomas Foster	Diny Randall
	💍 1914/556
BDM Match (61%)	George Thomas Stringer	Fanny Randall
	💍 1914/2481
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Produce Dealer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	246
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

162

10 March 1914

Arthur Arnold Radford
Norah Theresa Fahey

Arthur Arnold Radford
Norah Theresa Fahey
💍 1914/8080

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

26
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
4 days

St. Mary's Presbytery Barbadoes St. Christchurch

1607

10 March 1914

Rev. S. Bonetto

No	162
Date of Notice	10 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Arnold Radford	Norah Theresa Fahey
	💍 1914/8080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Presbytery Barbadoes St. Christchurch
Folio	1607
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Bonetto

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).