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 2229

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

922

9 December 1914

Hedley James Carr
Norah Cookson

Hedley James Carr
Norah Cookson
💍 1914/4876

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant
Boxmaker

29
20

Christchurch
Linwood

6 years
14 years

Methodist Church, Durham Street, North, Christchurch

8726

Charles Cookson, Father

9 December 1914

Rev. P. N. Knight, Methodist

No	922
Date of Notice	9 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hedley James Carr	Norah Cookson
	💍 1914/4876
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant	Boxmaker
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	6 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Durham Street, North, Christchurch
Folio	8726
Consent	Charles Cookson, Father
Date of Certificate	9 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. N. Knight, Methodist

923

9 December 1914

James Minchin
Arboury Elizabeth Kelly

James Minchin
Arborury Elizabeth Kelly
💍 1914/4719

Bachelor
Spinster

Motorman

28
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
4 years

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

8717

9 December 1914

Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

No	923
Date of Notice	9 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Minchin	Arboury Elizabeth Kelly
BDM Match (98%)	James Minchin	Arborury Elizabeth Kelly
	💍 1914/4719
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motorman
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	8717
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

924

9 December 1914

Francis George King
May Lysager

Francis George King
May Lysager
💍 1914/3225

Widower July, 1905
Widow July, 1903

Grain Merchant

43
32

Linwood
Linwood

18 years
12 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

7128

9 December 1914

Deputy Registrar

No	924
Date of Notice	9 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis George King	May Lysager
	💍 1914/3225
Condition	Widower July, 1905	Widow July, 1903
Profession	Grain Merchant
Age	43	32
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	18 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	7128
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

925

11 December 1914

Albert Knight Marks
Agness Margaret Williams

Albert Knight Marks
Agnes Margaret Williams
💍 1914/4872

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Clerk

29
28

Sydenham
Cashmere

29 years
3 years

Wesley Church, East Belt, Christchurch

8745

11 December 1914

Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Methodist

No	925
Date of Notice	11 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Knight Marks	Agness Margaret Williams
BDM Match (98%)	Albert Knight Marks	Agnes Margaret Williams
	💍 1914/4872
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Clerk
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Cashmere
Length of Residence	29 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church, East Belt, Christchurch
Folio	8745
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Methodist

926

11 December 1914

William Mitchell
Ethel Maud Patchett

William Mitchell
Ethel Maud Patchett
💍 1914/4750

Widower 14 April 1912
Spinster

Retired Bank Manager
Nurse

59
44

Papanui
Papanui

9 months
19 months

House of Mr William Mitchell, 54 Papanui Road, St. Albans

8777

11 December 1914

Mr W. H. Pascoe, Seventh-day Adventist

No	926
Date of Notice	11 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Mitchell	Ethel Maud Patchett
	💍 1914/4750
Condition	Widower 14 April 1912	Spinster
Profession	Retired Bank Manager	Nurse
Age	59	44
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	9 months	19 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr William Mitchell, 54 Papanui Road, St. Albans
Folio	8777
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Mr W. H. Pascoe, Seventh-day Adventist

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).