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 2177

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

669

31 August 1914

Adam John Cowan
Margarette Muriel Homersham

Adam John Cowan
Margarette Muriel Homersham
💍 1914/2451

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
24

Linwood
Linwood

1 week
4 years

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

6152

31 August 1914

Rev. Canon Pascoe, Anglican

No	669
Date of Notice	31 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam John Cowan	Margarette Muriel Homersham
	💍 1914/2451
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	1 week	4 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	6152
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Pascoe, Anglican

670

31 August 1914

John Bowden
Ivy Isabel Brown

John Bowden
Ivy Isabel Brown
💍 1914/3059

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolteacher

27
28

Addington
Riccarton

Life
Life

Methodist Church Addington

6903

31 August 1914

Rev. T. N. Vealie, Methodist

No	670
Date of Notice	31 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bowden	Ivy Isabel Brown
	💍 1914/3059
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolteacher
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Addington	Riccarton
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Addington
Folio	6903
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. N. Vealie, Methodist

671

31 August 1914

William Nelson Kerr
Althea Beatrice Dorothy Illing

William Nelson Kerr
Althea Beatrice Dorothy Illing
💍 1914/9445

Divorced, Decree Made 28 August 1914
Widow, 31 March 1912

Painter

53
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
13 years

House of Rev. F. Rule, 45 Richmond Terrace, Christchurch

6292

31 August 1914

Rev. F. Rule, Presbyterian

No	671
Date of Notice	31 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Nelson Kerr	Althea Beatrice Dorothy Illing
	💍 1914/9445
Condition	Divorced, Decree Made 28 August 1914	Widow, 31 March 1912
Profession	Painter
Age	53	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	13 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. F. Rule, 45 Richmond Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	6292
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Rule, Presbyterian

672

31 August 1914

Henry Walter Penrose
Kathleen Helena Baker

Henry Walter Penrose
Kathleen Helena Baker
💍 1914/2408

Widower, 27 October 1904
Spinster

Builder

44
32

Addington
Spreydon

16 years
10 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

6161

31 August 1914

Rev. J. J. Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	672
Date of Notice	31 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Walter Penrose	Kathleen Helena Baker
	💍 1914/2408
Condition	Widower, 27 October 1904	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	44	32
Dwelling Place	Addington	Spreydon
Length of Residence	16 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	6161
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Murphy, Roman Catholic

673

1 September 1914

Frederick Robert Frame
Jean McAdam

Frederick Robert Frame
Jean McAdam
💍 1914/2470

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

31
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St. Andrews Church Christchurch

6179

1 September 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	673
Date of Notice	1 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Robert Frame	Jean McAdam
	💍 1914/2470
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church Christchurch
Folio	6179
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie, Presbyterian

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).