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 2367

District of Rangiora Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar Joseph Sarjeant

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

18 July 1914

James Francis Banks
Marian Ellen Foster

James Francis Banks
Marian Ellen Foster
💍 1914/2956

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27 years
27 years

Rotherham
Rangiora

6 months
27 years

Church of England, Rangiora

6659

18 July 1914

F. P. Fendall, Church of England

No	22
Date of Notice	18 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Francis Banks	Marian Ellen Foster
	💍 1914/2956
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Rotherham	Rangiora
Length of Residence	6 months	27 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Rangiora
Folio	6659
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1914
Officiating Minister	F. P. Fendall, Church of England

22 July 1914

Arthur Edlin
Eva May Ross

Arthur Edlin
Eva May Ross
💍 1914/2565

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller
Domestic duties

27 years
19 years

Southbrook
Southbrook

25 years
19 years

Residence of Mr Ross, Southbrook

6317

William Ross, Father

22 July 1914

W. Wills, Methodist

No	23
Date of Notice	22 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Edlin	Eva May Ross
	💍 1914/2565
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller	Domestic duties
Age	27 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Southbrook	Southbrook
Length of Residence	25 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Ross, Southbrook
Folio	6317
Consent	William Ross, Father
Date of Certificate	22 July 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Wills, Methodist

29 July 1914

Samuel Moore
Elizabeth Robb

Samuel Moore
Elizabeth Robb
💍 1914/2564

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocers Assistant
Parlormaid

24 years
21 years

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
8 days

Residence of Mrs Baxter, Ards View, King St, Rangiora

6316

29 July 1914

Thos Miller, Presbyterian

No	24
Date of Notice	29 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Moore	Elizabeth Robb
	💍 1914/2564
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocers Assistant	Parlormaid
Age	24 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	8 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Baxter, Ards View, King St, Rangiora
Folio	6316
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Thos Miller, Presbyterian

10 August 1914

Sidney Hands
Agnes Ellen Roi

Sidney Hands
Agnes Ellen Roi
💍 1914/2563

Widower
Spinster

Market Gardener
Domestic duties

47 years
36 years

Southbrook
Southbrook

15 years
18 months

Residence of Bridegroom, Sidney Hands, Southbrook

6315

10 August 1914

W. Wills, Methodist

No	25
Date of Notice	10 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Hands	Agnes Ellen Roi
	💍 1914/2563
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Market Gardener	Domestic duties
Age	47 years	36 years
Dwelling Place	Southbrook	Southbrook
Length of Residence	15 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Bridegroom, Sidney Hands, Southbrook
Folio	6315
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Wills, Methodist

18 August 1914

Hemi Ratafu
Meretini Huria

Hemi Ratapu
Meretini Huria
💍 1914/2562

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic Duties

22 years
23 years

Tuahiwi
Tuahiwi

one month
23 years

Registrar's Office, Rangiora

6314

18 August 1914

J. Sarjeant, Registrar

No	26
Date of Notice	18 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hemi Ratafu	Meretini Huria
BDM Match (95%)	Hemi Ratapu	Meretini Huria
	💍 1914/2562
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	22 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Tuahiwi	Tuahiwi
Length of Residence	one month	23 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Rangiora
Folio	6314
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 1914
Officiating Minister	J. Sarjeant, Registrar

7 September 1914

Isaac Geoffrey Watkins
Mary Elsie Beal

Isaac Geoffrey Watkins
Mary Elsie Beal
💍 1914/2933

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman
Domestic duties

20 years 11 months
23 years

Rangiora
Rangiora

20 years 11 months
11 months

Church of England, Rangiora

6660

Richard Henry Watkins, Father

7 September 1914

F. P. Fendall, Church of England

No	27
Date of Notice	7 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Geoffrey Watkins	Mary Elsie Beal
	💍 1914/2933
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman	Domestic duties
Age	20 years 11 months	23 years
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Rangiora
Length of Residence	20 years 11 months	11 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Rangiora
Folio	6660
Consent	Richard Henry Watkins, Father
Date of Certificate	7 September 1914
Officiating Minister	F. P. Fendall, Church of England

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).