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 2189

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

729

22 September 1914

Benjamin Taylor Watkinson
Venus Collier

Benjamin Taylor Watkinson
Venus Collier
💍 1914/4948

Widower 4 July 1913
Spinster

Engineer

57
39

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
3 quarters

House of W. G. Collier, 205 Lichfield St, Christchurch

8772

22 September 1914

Rev. H. Johnson, Congregationalist

No	729
Date of Notice	22 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Taylor Watkinson	Venus Collier
	💍 1914/4948
Condition	Widower 4 July 1913	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	57	39
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	3 quarters
Marriage Place	House of W. G. Collier, 205 Lichfield St, Christchurch
Folio	8772
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Johnson, Congregationalist

730

22 September 1914

Henry Sydney Rowe
Janey Daly

Henry Sydney Rowe
Janey Daly
💍 1914/2440

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

24
21

Sockburn
Christchurch

Life
2 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

6142

22 September 1914

Registrar

No	730
Date of Notice	22 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Sydney Rowe	Janey Daly
	💍 1914/2440
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Sockburn	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	6142
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

731

22 September 1914

William Lloyd Cross Brian
Rita Pearce

William Lloyd Cross Brian
Rita Pearce
💍 1914/4922

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

23
20

Papanui
Papanui

16 years
9 months

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

8845

Frederick Pearce, Father

22 September 1914

Rev. C. G. Mutter, Anglican

No	731
Date of Notice	22 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lloyd Cross Brian	Rita Pearce
	💍 1914/4922
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	16 years	9 months
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	8845
Consent	Frederick Pearce, Father
Date of Certificate	22 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. G. Mutter, Anglican

732

22 September 1914

William Boyne Howell
Doris Ethel Treadwell

William Boyne Howell
Doris Ethel Treadwell
💍 1914/5422

Widower April 1912
Spinster

Engineer

30
19

Opawa
Halswell

20 years
19 years

Baptist Church, Spreydon

9128

Henrietta Oxbridge formerly Treadwell, Mother

22 September 1914

Rev. J. Laird, Baptist

No	732
Date of Notice	22 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Boyne Howell	Doris Ethel Treadwell
	💍 1914/5422
Condition	Widower April 1912	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Halswell
Length of Residence	20 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Spreydon
Folio	9128
Consent	Henrietta Oxbridge formerly Treadwell, Mother
Date of Certificate	22 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Laird, Baptist

733

23 September 1914

Edward John Roche
Georgina Thompson

Edward John Roche
Georgina Thompson
💍 1914/2499

Bachelor
Divorced Decree abs. 10 September 1914

Clerk

35
39

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
10 days

Presbyterian Manse, Latimer Sq, Christchurch

6227

23 September 1914

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	733
Date of Notice	23 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Roche	Georgina Thompson
	💍 1914/2499
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced Decree abs. 10 September 1914
Profession	Clerk
Age	35	39
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	10 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Latimer Sq, Christchurch
Folio	6227
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, 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).