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 2093

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

229

31 March 1914

Thomas Richard Rogers
Louisa Sophia Kemp

Thomas Richard Rogers
Louisa Sophia Kemp
💍 1914/5965

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

28
27

Woolston
Christchurch

18 months
12 years

St Saviour's Church Sydenham

3525

31 March 1914

Rev. H. S. Leach

No	229
Date of Notice	31 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Richard Rogers	Louisa Sophia Kemp
	💍 1914/5965
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	12 years
Marriage Place	St Saviour's Church Sydenham
Folio	3525
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach

230

31 March 1914

Aaron Oliver Grafton
Ellen May Buchanan

Aaron Oliver Grafton
Ellen May Buchanan
💍 1914/9159

Bachelor
Spinster

Picture Framer
Tailoress

20
19

Christchurch
Sydenham

12 years
10 years

House of Mr. J Buchanan, 146 Brougham Street Sydenham

4233

Sarah Grafton, Mother. James Buchanan, Father.

31 March 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	230
Date of Notice	31 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Aaron Oliver Grafton	Ellen May Buchanan
	💍 1914/9159
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Picture Framer	Tailoress
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	12 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J Buchanan, 146 Brougham Street Sydenham
Folio	4233
Consent	Sarah Grafton, Mother. James Buchanan, Father.
Date of Certificate	31 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

231

31 March 1914

John William Barker
Alice Ethel Stroud

John William Barker
Alice Ethel Stroud
💍 1914/5959

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman

29
23

Burwood
Sydenham

4 years
2 years

House of Mr W Stroud, 30, Palsgrave St. Sydenham

3520

31 March 1914

Rev. P. H. Scrivin

No	231
Date of Notice	31 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Barker	Alice Ethel Stroud
	💍 1914/5959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Burwood	Sydenham
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr W Stroud, 30, Palsgrave St. Sydenham
Folio	3520
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. H. Scrivin

232

31 March 1914

John Murdoch McLean
Agnes Amelia Gentle Maule

John Murdoch McLean
Agnes Amelia Genke Maule
💍 1914/9160

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

23
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 month
3 days

St. Andrews Manse Christchurch

4234

Agnes Cholerton formerly Maule, mother.

31 March 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	232
Date of Notice	31 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Murdoch McLean	Agnes Amelia Gentle Maule
BDM Match (96%)	John Murdoch McLean	Agnes Amelia Genke Maule
	💍 1914/9160
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 month	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Manse Christchurch
Folio	4234
Consent	Agnes Cholerton formerly Maule, mother.
Date of Certificate	31 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

233

31 March 1914

Arnold Ryland
Ethel Maude Hancock

Arnold Ryland
Ethel Maude Hancock
💍 1914/5997

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician
Book-Keeper

26
26

Christchurch
Opawa

20 years
Life

St. Augustine's Church Cashmere

3534

31 March 1914

Rev. F. R. Inwood

No	233
Date of Notice	31 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arnold Ryland	Ethel Maude Hancock
	💍 1914/5997
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician	Book-Keeper
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Opawa
Length of Residence	20 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church Cashmere
Folio	3534
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. R. Inwood

234

31 March 1914

Richard Henry Collins
Eliza Rose Pickering

Richard Henry Collins
Eliza Rose Pickering
💍 1914/808

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

35
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
10 years

Anglican Church Prebbleton

4447

31 March 1914

Rev. E. Webb

No	234
Date of Notice	31 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Henry Collins	Eliza Rose Pickering
	💍 1914/808
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	35	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Prebbleton
Folio	4447
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Webb

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).