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 2269

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar A. A. Readdie

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

937

25 July 1914

Thomas Harold Hughes
Olive Alice Clement

Thomas Harold Hughes
Olive Alice Clement
💍 1914/3124

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
26

Carew
Carew

8 months
26 years

Hinds Anglican Church

6927

29 July 1914

Rev. G. B. Nanson, Church of England

No	937
Date of Notice	25 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Harold Hughes	Olive Alice Clement
	💍 1914/3124
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Carew	Carew
Length of Residence	8 months	26 years
Marriage Place	Hinds Anglican Church
Folio	6927
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Nanson, Church of England

938

1 August 1914

Percy William Hobbs
Margaret Bennett

Percy William Hobbs
Margaret Bennett
💍 1914/2340

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
Domestic

27
22

Orari
Orari

3 years
22 years

Office of Registrar, Geraldine

6065

1 August 1914

A. A. Readdie, Registrar

No	938
Date of Notice	1 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy William Hobbs	Margaret Bennett
	💍 1914/2340
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	Domestic
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Orari	Orari
Length of Residence	3 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Geraldine
Folio	6065
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1914
Officiating Minister	A. A. Readdie, Registrar

939

10 September 1914

Arthur William Opie
Agnes Lily Gillum

Arthur William Opie
Agnes Lily Gillum
💍 1914/2935

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

40
30

Winchester
Winchester

20 years
30 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Temuka

6662

10 September 1914

Rev. Father Kerley, Roman Catholic

No	939
Date of Notice	10 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Opie	Agnes Lily Gillum
	💍 1914/2935
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	40	30
Dwelling Place	Winchester	Winchester
Length of Residence	20 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Temuka
Folio	6662
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Kerley, Roman Catholic

940

16 September 1914

Francis Robert Drake
Mabel Annie Davis

Francis Robert Drake
Mabel Annie Davis
💍 1914/2339

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

29
33

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 days
19 years

Residence of Bride's Father, Cox Street, Geraldine

6064

16 September 1914

Rev. Ben Dudley, Methodist

No	940
Date of Notice	16 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Robert Drake	Mabel Annie Davis
	💍 1914/2339
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	29	33
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Father, Cox Street, Geraldine
Folio	6064
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ben Dudley, Methodist

941

26 September 1914

Joseph Stringer
Gertrude Lucy Chilman

Joseph Stringer
Gertrude Lucy Chilman
💍 1914/2338

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

52
33

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 days
3 days

Residence of Alfred Stringer, Geraldine

6063

26 September 1914

Rev. Ben Dudley, Methodist

No	941
Date of Notice	26 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Stringer	Gertrude Lucy Chilman
	💍 1914/2338
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	52	33
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Alfred Stringer, Geraldine
Folio	6063
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ben Dudley, Methodist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).