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 2107

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

308

14 April 1914

Harry Phillips
Esther Wright

Harry Phillips
Esther Wright
💍 1914/6073

Bachelor
Spinster

Nurseryman
Shop Assistant

30
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 days
6 years

House of Mr. J. Wright, 50, Leicester St. Christchurch

3626

14 April 1914

Rev. W. R. Campbell

No	308
Date of Notice	14 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Phillips	Esther Wright
	💍 1914/6073
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Nurseryman	Shop Assistant
Age	30	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 days	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Wright, 50, Leicester St. Christchurch
Folio	3626
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Campbell

309

15 April 1914

William John Smith
Caroline Amy Gillett

William John Smith
Caroline Amy Gillett
💍 1914/6131

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

62
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St. Michael's Church Christchurch

3568

15 April 1914

Rev. C. G. Mutter

No	309
Date of Notice	15 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Smith	Caroline Amy Gillett
	💍 1914/6131
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	62	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church Christchurch
Folio	3568
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. G. Mutter

310

15 April 1914

Erik Rutherford
Gertrude Hannah Holmes

Erik Rutherford
Gertrude Hannah Holmes
💍 1914/929

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
25

Christchurch
Halswell

5 days
18 years

Anglican Church Halswell

4596

15 April 1914

Rev. F. Dunnage

No	310
Date of Notice	15 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Erik Rutherford	Gertrude Hannah Holmes
	💍 1914/929
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Halswell
Length of Residence	5 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Halswell
Folio	4596
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Dunnage

311

15 April 1914

Fred Armstrong
Evelyn Byrne

Fred Armstrong
Evelyn Byrne
💍 1914/5924

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

24
22

Linwood
St Albans

10 years
1 year

St. Mary's Church Merivale

3402

15 April 1914

Rev. C. H. Gosset

No	311
Date of Notice	15 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred Armstrong	Evelyn Byrne
	💍 1914/5924
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Linwood	St Albans
Length of Residence	10 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Merivale
Folio	3402
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Gosset

312

15 April 1914

Edwin Percy Chappell
Lina Ivy Kerridge

Edwin Percy Chappell
Lina Ivy Kerridge
💍 1914/766

Bachelor
Spinster

Tramway Conductor
Dressmaker

30
21

Christchurch
Papanui

4 months
8 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3432

15 April 1914

Registrar

No	312
Date of Notice	15 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Percy Chappell	Lina Ivy Kerridge
	💍 1914/766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tramway Conductor	Dressmaker
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Papanui
Length of Residence	4 months	8 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3432
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

313

16 April 1914

George McDonald Davidson
Hannah Peek

George McDonald Davidson
Hannah Puk
💍 1914/887

Bachelor
Spinster

Bookseller

36
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
16 years

House of Mr. J. W. Peek, 498 St. Asaph St. Christchurch

4503

16 April 1914

Rev. T. McDonald

No	313
Date of Notice	16 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George McDonald Davidson	Hannah Peek
BDM Match (91%)	George McDonald Davidson	Hannah Puk
	💍 1914/887
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bookseller
Age	36	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	16 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. W. Peek, 498 St. Asaph St. Christchurch
Folio	4503
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. McDonald

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).