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 2129

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1914

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

436

30 May 1914

Percy John Vincent
Janet Anderson Fletcher

Percy John Vincent
Janet Anderson Fletcher
💍 1914/789

Bachelor
Spinster

Leather Bag Maker
Waitress

21
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
20 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3456

John Fletcher, father

30 May 1914

Registrar

No	436
Date of Notice	30 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy John Vincent	Janet Anderson Fletcher
	💍 1914/789
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Leather Bag Maker	Waitress
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3456
Consent	John Fletcher, father
Date of Certificate	30 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

437

30 May 1914

John Henry
Irene Stephenson

John Henry
Irene Stephenson
💍 1914/6076

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
1 week

St. Michaels Church Christchurch

3637

30 May 1914

Rev. C. G. Mutter, Anglican

No	437
Date of Notice	30 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry	Irene Stephenson
	💍 1914/6076
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church Christchurch
Folio	3637
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. G. Mutter, Anglican

438

30 May 1914

William James Mitchell
Hilda Barbara Young

William James Mitchell
Hilda Barbara Young
💍 1914/5925

Bachelor
Spinster

Metal Worker
Tailoress

23
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
6 days

House of Mrs Mitchell 180 Peterborough St. Christchurch

3411

30 May 1914

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	438
Date of Notice	30 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Mitchell	Hilda Barbara Young
	💍 1914/5925
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Metal Worker	Tailoress
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	6 days
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Mitchell 180 Peterborough St. Christchurch
Folio	3411
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

439

30 May 1914

Charles Ewen Allen
Edith Mary Cornwell

Charles Ewen Allen
Edith Mary Cornwell
💍 1914/6086

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Schoolmistress

28
25

Linwood
Sydenham

28 years
25 years

Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch

3646

30 May 1914

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	439
Date of Notice	30 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Ewen Allen	Edith Mary Cornwell
	💍 1914/6086
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Schoolmistress
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Sydenham
Length of Residence	28 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch
Folio	3646
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

440

1 June 1914

Edward Thurston Elborn
Ethel May Henry

Edward Thirston Ebborn
Ethel May Henry
💍 1914/6079

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

31
23

Linwood
Sydenham

10 years
Life

St. Saviours Church Sydenham

3640

1 June 1914

Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

No	440
Date of Notice	1 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Thurston Elborn	Ethel May Henry
BDM Match (95%)	Edward Thirston Ebborn	Ethel May Henry
	💍 1914/6079
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Sydenham
Length of Residence	10 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Saviours Church Sydenham
Folio	3640
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).