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 2219

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 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

872

23 November 1914

Eric John Tayler
Janet May Richardson

Eric John Taylor
Janet May Richardson
💍 1914/4743

Bachelor
Spinster

Licensed Land Broker

42
29

Linwood
Linwood

13 years
12 years

House of Mr D. Richardson, 188 Rolleston St, Linwood

8793

23 November 1914

Rev. H. A. Job, Congregationalist

No	872
Date of Notice	23 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric John Tayler	Janet May Richardson
BDM Match (97%)	Eric John Taylor	Janet May Richardson
	💍 1914/4743
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Licensed Land Broker
Age	42	29
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	13 years	12 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr D. Richardson, 188 Rolleston St, Linwood
Folio	8793
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Job, Congregationalist

873

23 November 1914

Francis Ash Lagan
Margaret Coffey

Francis Ash Lagan
Margaret Coffey
💍 1914/4725

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman

24
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

8699

23 November 1914

Rev. J. W. Price, Roman Catholic

No	873
Date of Notice	23 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Ash Lagan	Margaret Coffey
	💍 1914/4725
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	8699
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Price, Roman Catholic

874

23 November 1914

John William Nixon
Claudine Lake

John William Nixon
Claudine Lake
💍 1914/4734

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer

28
28

Heathcote Valley
Christchurch

28 years
2 years

St. Mary's Church, Heathcote Valley

8785

23 November 1914

Rev. J. R. Wilford, Anglican

No	874
Date of Notice	23 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Nixon	Claudine Lake
	💍 1914/4734
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Heathcote Valley	Christchurch
Length of Residence	28 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Heathcote Valley
Folio	8785
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Wilford, Anglican

875

23 November 1914

Robert French
Margaret Mary McCloy

Robert French
Margaret Mary McCloy
💍 1914/4726

Bachelor
Spinster

Stockman

26
22

Riccarton
Addington

2 years
22 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

8700

23 November 1914

Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	875
Date of Notice	23 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert French	Margaret Mary McCloy
	💍 1914/4726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stockman
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Addington
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	8700
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

876

23 November 1914

James Walter Graham
Mary Susan Ogilvie

James Walter Graham
Mary Susan Ogilvie
💍 1914/4079

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

24
22

Cashmere
Timaru

4 years
2 years

Trinity Church, Timaru

7989

23 November 1914

Rev. F. Stinson, Presbyterian

No	876
Date of Notice	23 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Walter Graham	Mary Susan Ogilvie
	💍 1914/4079
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Cashmere	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Church, Timaru
Folio	7989
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Stinson, 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).