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 2089

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

205

23 March 1914

William Robert Caverhill
Noëlle Victoria Buchanan

William Robert Caverhill
Noelle Victoria Buchanan
💍 1914/8337

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic
Clerk

25
25

St. Albans
Christchurch

3 years
5 years

House of Mrs S. Fitch, Dallington

1929

23 March 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	205
Date of Notice	23 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robert Caverhill	Noëlle Victoria Buchanan
BDM Match (96%)	William Robert Caverhill	Noelle Victoria Buchanan
	💍 1914/8337
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic	Clerk
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs S. Fitch, Dallington
Folio	1929
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

206

23 March 1914

Thomas Tonkin Armstrong
Maude Taylor

Thomas Tonkin Armstrong
Maud Taylor
💍 1914/7566

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Clerk

32
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 years
20 years

Church of Christ, Durham St, Christchurch

1629

23 March 1914

Mr R. Gebbie

No	206
Date of Notice	23 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Tonkin Armstrong	Maude Taylor
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Tonkin Armstrong	Maud Taylor
	💍 1914/7566
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Clerk
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Durham St, Christchurch
Folio	1629
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Mr R. Gebbie

207

23 March 1914

James Francis Hamilton Buttery
Elsie Ruby Daisy Berryman

James Francis Hamilton Buttery
Elsie Ruby Daisy Berryman
💍 1914/7567

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

31
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 months
21 years

St. Johns Church, Christchurch

1630

23 March 1914

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	207
Date of Notice	23 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Francis Hamilton Buttery	Elsie Ruby Daisy Berryman
	💍 1914/7567
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 months	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church, Christchurch
Folio	1630
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

208

23 March 1914

William Jackson Armour
Annie Elfreda Vercoe

William Jackson Armour
Annie Elfreda Vercoe
💍 1914/589

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman

30
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 month
3 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

256

23 March 1914

Registrar

No	208
Date of Notice	23 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jackson Armour	Annie Elfreda Vercoe
	💍 1914/589
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 month	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	256
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

209

23 March 1914

John Edwin Moody
Caroline Alice Bridge

John Edwin Moody
Caroline Alice Bridge
💍 1914/590

Widower 16.7.1913
Widow 14.10.1908

Labourer
Proprietress Registry Office

37
39

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
2 1/2 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

257

23 March 1914

Registrar

No	209
Date of Notice	23 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edwin Moody	Caroline Alice Bridge
	💍 1914/590
Condition	Widower 16.7.1913	Widow 14.10.1908
Profession	Labourer	Proprietress Registry Office
Age	37	39
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	257
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

210

24 March 1914

John Murray McMillan
Gladys Linda Gates

John Murray McMillan
Gladys Linda Gates
💍 1914/8082

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
1 week

House of Mr J. A. Gates, 19 Merivale Lane, St. Albans

1621

24 March 1914

Rev. R. Erwin

No	210
Date of Notice	24 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Murray McMillan	Gladys Linda Gates
	💍 1914/8082
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	House of Mr J. A. Gates, 19 Merivale Lane, St. Albans
Folio	1621
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin

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).