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 2159

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

579

27 July 1914

Thomas Spencer Dowdle
Emily Payne

Thomas Spencer Dowdle
Emily Payne
💍 1914/2541

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk New Zealand Railways

22
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
6 months

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

6271

Stephen Payne, Father

27 July 1914

Rev. C. G. Mutter, Anglican

No	579
Date of Notice	27 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Spencer Dowdle	Emily Payne
	💍 1914/2541
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk New Zealand Railways
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	6271
Consent	Stephen Payne, Father
Date of Certificate	27 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. G. Mutter, Anglican

580

28 July 1914

Edmond O'Dea
Lilian Victoria Monica Stanley

Edmond O'Dea
Lilian Victoria Monica Stanley
💍 1914/2393

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable

23
25

Christchurch
Merivale

2 years
25 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

6170

28 July 1914

Rev. T. W. Price, Roman Catholic

No	580
Date of Notice	28 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmond O'Dea	Lilian Victoria Monica Stanley
	💍 1914/2393
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Merivale
Length of Residence	2 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	6170
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Price, Roman Catholic

581

28 July 1914

William Pierson Ramage
Amelia May Pearce

William Pierson Ramage
Amelia May Pearce
💍 1914/9180

Bachelor
Spinster

Rope Maker

31
22

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 days
6 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

6105

28 July 1914

Registrar

No	581
Date of Notice	28 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Pierson Ramage	Amelia May Pearce
	💍 1914/9180
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Rope Maker
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	6105
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

582

28 July 1914

Pierce Edward Power
Flora Stewart

Pierce Edward Power
Flora Stewart
💍 1914/2403

Widower 10 June 1909
Spinster

Engineer

40
38

Fendalton
Christchurch

6 years
1 week

The Vestry St. Mary's Church, Manchester St., Christchurch

6156

28 July 1914

Rev. R. J. Hoare, Roman Catholic

No	582
Date of Notice	28 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Pierce Edward Power	Flora Stewart
	💍 1914/2403
Condition	Widower 10 June 1909	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	40	38
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	1 week
Marriage Place	The Vestry St. Mary's Church, Manchester St., Christchurch
Folio	6156
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Hoare, Roman Catholic

583

29 July 1914

Laurence Alfred Oakley
Elsie Eulalia Scown

Laurence Alfred Oakley
Elsie Eulalia Scown
💍 1914/9455

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
30

Richmond
Richmond

3 days
3 days

Methodist Church, Richmond

6281

29 July 1914

Rev. A. McBean, Methodist

No	583
Date of Notice	29 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Laurence Alfred Oakley	Elsie Eulalia Scown
	💍 1914/9455
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Richmond
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Richmond
Folio	6281
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. McBean, Methodist

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).