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 2277

District of Hororata Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar William J. Barlow

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

1 July 1914

George Beckett Baker
Florence Rose Smith

George Beakett Baker
Florence Rose Smith
💍 1914/2341

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter & Van Driver
Domestic duties

27
24

Glentunnel
Glentunnel

10 Months
12 days

Registrar's Office, Glentunnel

6066

1 July 1914

William J. Barlow, Registrar of Marriages, Glentunnel

No	6
Date of Notice	1 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Beckett Baker	Florence Rose Smith
BDM Match (98%)	George Beakett Baker	Florence Rose Smith
	💍 1914/2341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter & Van Driver	Domestic duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Glentunnel	Glentunnel
Length of Residence	10 Months	12 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Glentunnel
Folio	6066
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1914
Officiating Minister	William J. Barlow, Registrar of Marriages, Glentunnel

28 July 1914

Hugh Allan Brown
Ada Stringer

Hugh Allan Brown
Ada Staingers
💍 1914/5423

Bachelor
Spinster

Yardsman
Domestic

27
28

Dunsandel
Selwyn

27 years
28 years

Presbyterian Church, Dunsandel

9129

28 July 1914

Rev. James Swanson Reid, Dunsandel

No	7
Date of Notice	28 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Allan Brown	Ada Stringer
BDM Match (92%)	Hugh Allan Brown	Ada Staingers
	💍 1914/5423
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Yardsman	Domestic
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Dunsandel	Selwyn
Length of Residence	27 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dunsandel
Folio	9129
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Swanson Reid, Dunsandel

14 August 1914

Albert John Skerten
Bertha Layley Harwood

John Albert Skerten
Bertha Layley Harwood
💍 1914/2342

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway fireman
Household duties

24
22

Coalgate
Coalgate

4 days
3 years 3 months

Presbyterian Church, Hororata

6067

14 August 1914

Rev. James Johnston, Sheffield

No	8
Date of Notice	14 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Skerten	Bertha Layley Harwood
BDM Match (74%)	John Albert Skerten	Bertha Layley Harwood
	💍 1914/2342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway fireman	Household duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Coalgate	Coalgate
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years 3 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hororata
Folio	6067
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Johnston, Sheffield

17 August 1914

William Edward Morgan
Louisa McGregor

William Edward Morgan
Louisa McGregor
💍 1914/22

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
Household duties

29
27

Whitecliffs
Whitecliffs

6 Months
6 Months

Roman Catholic Church, Darfield

6097

17 August 1914

Rev. Father Fanning, Darfield, Catholic Priest

No	9
Date of Notice	17 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward Morgan	Louisa McGregor
	💍 1914/22
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	Household duties
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Whitecliffs	Whitecliffs
Length of Residence	6 Months	6 Months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Darfield
Folio	6097
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Fanning, Darfield, Catholic Priest

27 August 1914

Henry Ballagh
Florence Emily Thwaites

Henry Ballagh
Florence Emily Thwaites
💍 1914/5424

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

34
34

Hororata
Hororata

34 years
34 years

Church of England, Hororata

9130

27 August 1914

Rev. E. R. Blakiston, Church of England, Hororata

No	10
Date of Notice	27 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Ballagh	Florence Emily Thwaites
	💍 1914/5424
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	34	34
Dwelling Place	Hororata	Hororata
Length of Residence	34 years	34 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Hororata
Folio	9130
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Blakiston, Church of England, Hororata

15 September 1914

Alexander Duncan
Ellen Hartnell

Alexander Duncan
Ellen Hartnell
💍 1914/2368

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

35
33

Russell's Flat
Hororata

9 months
33 years

Catholic Church, Coalgate

6094

15 September 1914

Rev. Father Fanning

No	11
Date of Notice	15 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Duncan	Ellen Hartnell
	💍 1914/2368
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	35	33
Dwelling Place	Russell's Flat	Hororata
Length of Residence	9 months	33 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Coalgate
Folio	6094
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Fanning

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).