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 2203

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 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

792

19 October 1914

Alfred Opie Larcombe
Annie Christina Meyerhoff

Alfred Opie Larcombe
Annie Christina Meyerhoff
💍 1914/9472

Bachelor
Spinster

Creamery Manager

30
25

Greenpark
Ladbrooks

14 years
25 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

7100

19 October 1914

Registrar

No	792
Date of Notice	19 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Opie Larcombe	Annie Christina Meyerhoff
	💍 1914/9472
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Creamery Manager
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Greenpark	Ladbrooks
Length of Residence	14 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	7100
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

793

19 October 1914

John Samuel Robertson
Eleanor Mabel Henry

John Samuel Robertson
Eleanor Isobel Henry
💍 1914/4965

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller

43
36

Spreydon
Fendalton

16 years
18 months

St. Mary's Presbytery, Manchester St, Christchurch

8864

19 October 1914

Rev. L. J. Hoare, Roman Catholic

No	793
Date of Notice	19 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Samuel Robertson	Eleanor Mabel Henry
BDM Match (93%)	John Samuel Robertson	Eleanor Isobel Henry
	💍 1914/4965
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller
Age	43	36
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Fendalton
Length of Residence	16 years	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Presbytery, Manchester St, Christchurch
Folio	8864
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. J. Hoare, Roman Catholic

794

19 October 1914

Joseph Higgins
Winifred Sarah Marshall

Joseph Higgins
Winifred Sarah Marshall
💍 1914/4968

Bachelor
Spinster

Poultry Farmer

26
23

Burwood
Burwood

26 years
5 years

Anglican Church, Burwood

8866

19 October 1914

Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

No	794
Date of Notice	19 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Higgins	Winifred Sarah Marshall
	💍 1914/4968
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Poultry Farmer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Burwood	Burwood
Length of Residence	26 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Burwood
Folio	8866
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

795

20 October 1914

Alexander William Charleson
Catherine Macpherson Forsyth

Alexander William Charleson
Catherine Macpherson Forsythe
💍 1914/4961

Bachelor
Spinster

Mercantile Clerk
Typist

29
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 years
2 weeks

St. David's Church, Sydenham

8860

20 October 1914

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	795
Date of Notice	20 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander William Charleson	Catherine Macpherson Forsyth
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander William Charleson	Catherine Macpherson Forsythe
	💍 1914/4961
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mercantile Clerk	Typist
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	St. David's Church, Sydenham
Folio	8860
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

796

20 October 1914

Charles Raynor Shann
Nellie Ellis Griffith

Charles Raynor Shann
Nellie Ellis Griffith
💍 1914/4977

Widower 22-3-1914
Widow 12-6-1913

Machinist

41
38

Linwood
Christchurch

16 years
12 years

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

8852

20 October 1914

Rev. C. Coates, Anglican

No	796
Date of Notice	20 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Raynor Shann	Nellie Ellis Griffith
	💍 1914/4977
Condition	Widower 22-3-1914	Widow 12-6-1913
Profession	Machinist
Age	41	38
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	8852
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Coates, Anglican

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).