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 2105

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

296

14 April 1914

George Calder
Margaret Marion McKay

George Calder
Margaret Marion McKay
💍 1914/5928

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
28

Halkett
Halkett

28 years
28 years

Presbyterian Church Halkett

3414

14 April 1914

Rev. J. Pringle

No	296
Date of Notice	14 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Calder	Margaret Marion McKay
	💍 1914/5928
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Halkett	Halkett
Length of Residence	28 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Halkett
Folio	3414
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Pringle

297

14 April 1914

William Oliver Long
Evelyn Prescott Field

William Oliver Long
Evelyn Prescott Field
💍 1914/5913

Bachelor
Spinster

Grain Broker

26
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
12 years

St. Mary's Church Merivale

3400

14 April 1914

Rev. C. H. Gosset

No	297
Date of Notice	14 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Oliver Long	Evelyn Prescott Field
	💍 1914/5913
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grain Broker
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Merivale
Folio	3400
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Gosset

298

14 April 1914

Ernest Henry Eagles
Florence Falla

Ernest Henry Eagles
Florence Falla
💍 1914/6128

Bachelor
Spinster

Freezing Works Employee
Dressmaker

26
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
6 years

House of Mr. D. Falla, 39 Alexandra Street Richmond

3565

14 April 1914

Rev. J. J. North

No	298
Date of Notice	14 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Henry Eagles	Florence Falla
	💍 1914/6128
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Freezing Works Employee	Dressmaker
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. D. Falla, 39 Alexandra Street Richmond
Folio	3565
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North

299

14 April 1914

Leonard Claude Dunmoore Hamilton
Mary Ellen Taylor Redmond

Leonard Claude Luxmoore Hamilton
Mary Ellen Taylor Redmond
💍 1914/9139

Bachelor
Spinster

Bookbinder's Cutter

29
29

Cashmere Hills
Christchurch

15 months
6 days

St. Andrew's Church Christchurch

4236

16 April 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	299
Date of Notice	14 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Claude Dunmoore Hamilton	Mary Ellen Taylor Redmond
BDM Match (97%)	Leonard Claude Luxmoore Hamilton	Mary Ellen Taylor Redmond
	💍 1914/9139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bookbinder's Cutter
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Cashmere Hills	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 months	6 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church Christchurch
Folio	4236
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

300

14 April 1914

Francis Domvile Savage
Margaret Ann Henderson

Francis Domvile Savage
Margaret Ann Henderson
💍 1914/762

Widower Oct. 25, 1913
Spinster

Labourer

57
39

Belfast
Belfast

4 years
39 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3429

14 April 1914

Registrar

No	300
Date of Notice	14 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Domvile Savage	Margaret Ann Henderson
	💍 1914/762
Condition	Widower Oct. 25, 1913	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	57	39
Dwelling Place	Belfast	Belfast
Length of Residence	4 years	39 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3429
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

301

14 April 1914

Frederick George Stephens
Bertha Pearce

Frederick George Stephens
Bertha Pearce
💍 1914/763

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

42
42

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
5 months

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3430

14 April 1914

Registrar

No	301
Date of Notice	14 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick George Stephens	Bertha Pearce
	💍 1914/763
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	42	42
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	5 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3430
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).