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 2091

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

217

27 March 1914

William Barnett
Agnes Ruth Mills

William Barnett
Agnes Ruth Mills
💍 1914/7568

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

20
19

Spreydon
Spreydon

1 year
6 months

Methodist Church, Cambridge Ter., Christchurch

1631

Sarah Ann Reece formerly Barnett, mother & Hughina Mills, mother

27 March 1914

Rev. B. Metson

No	217
Date of Notice	27 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Barnett	Agnes Ruth Mills
	💍 1914/7568
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	1 year	6 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Cambridge Ter., Christchurch
Folio	1631
Consent	Sarah Ann Reece formerly Barnett, mother & Hughina Mills, mother
Date of Certificate	27 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Metson

218

27 March 1914

Percy Guy Emerson
Lilian Adeline Kissel

Percy Tivy Emerson
Lilian Adeline Kissel
💍 1914/382

Bachelor
Spinster

Meat Inspector
Nurse

34
31

Wellington
Christchurch

3 months
30 years

Registrar's Office, Wellington

27 March 1914

Registrar

No	218
Date of Notice	27 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Guy Emerson	Lilian Adeline Kissel
BDM Match (92%)	Percy Tivy Emerson	Lilian Adeline Kissel
	💍 1914/382
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Meat Inspector	Nurse
Age	34	31
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	30 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Wellington
Folio	72
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

219

28 March 1914

Harold St. John Jones
Ida Maude Dyer

Harold St John Jones
Ida Maude Dyer
💍 1914/7569

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Salesman

27
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
7 years

St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

1632

Sydney Vincent Dyer, Father

28 March 1914

Rev. F. N. Taylor

No	219
Date of Notice	28 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold St. John Jones	Ida Maude Dyer
BDM Match (98%)	Harold St John Jones	Ida Maude Dyer
	💍 1914/7569
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Salesman
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	1632
Consent	Sydney Vincent Dyer, Father
Date of Certificate	28 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. N. Taylor

220

28 March 1914

Thomas Andrew Stephens
Marion Violet Coe

Thomas Andrew Stephens
Marion Violet Coe
💍 1914/5945

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

46
34

Merivale
Merivale

3 days
1 year

St. Mary's Church, Merivale

3407

28 March 1914

Rev. H. E. Ensor

No	220
Date of Notice	28 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Andrew Stephens	Marion Violet Coe
	💍 1914/5945
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	46	34
Dwelling Place	Merivale	Merivale
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Merivale
Folio	3407
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Ensor

221

28 March 1914

Joseph Spence
Mary Wright

Joseph Spence
Mary Wright
💍 1914/8907

James Alexander Johnston
Mary Wright
💍 1915/9101

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Saleswoman

27
22

Fisherton
Spreydon

6 months
5 years

Methodist Church, Colombo St., Sydenham

3479

28 March 1914

Rev. W. A. Scotter

No	221
Date of Notice	28 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Spence	Mary Wright
	💍 1914/8907
BDM Match (60%)	James Alexander Johnston	Mary Wright
	💍 1915/9101
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Saleswoman
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Fisherton	Spreydon
Length of Residence	6 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Colombo St., Sydenham
Folio	3479
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Scotter

222

28 March 1914

William McLaughlin
Olive Calder

William McLaughlin
Olive Calder
💍 1914/9161

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Shop Asst.

30
31

St. Albans
Sydenham

6 years
6 years

St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch

4235

28 March 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	222
Date of Notice	28 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McLaughlin	Olive Calder
	💍 1914/9161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Shop Asst.
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Sydenham
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch
Folio	4235
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

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).