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 2379

District of Temuka Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar Alfred Roberts

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

5 January 1914

George John Mogg
Helen Harvey Lillico

George John Hogg
Helen Harvey Lillico
💍 1914/7903

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

44
45

Waitohi Flat
Waitohi Flat

3 years
3 years

Presbyterian Manse, Temuka

1396

5 January 1914

Rev. Chas Macdonald

No	1
Date of Notice	5 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George John Mogg	Helen Harvey Lillico
BDM Match (97%)	George John Hogg	Helen Harvey Lillico
	💍 1914/7903
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	44	45
Dwelling Place	Waitohi Flat	Waitohi Flat
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Temuka
Folio	1396
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Chas Macdonald

23 February 1914

Alfred John Keeffe
Teresa Elizabeth Perry

Alfred John Keefe
Teresa Elizabeth Perry
💍 1914/7563

Bachelor
Spinster

Stable Proprietor
Housekeeper

34
23

Fairlie
Fairlie

34 years
23 years

Roman Catholic Church, Temuka

1649

23 February 1914

Rev. Fr. Lezer

No	2
Date of Notice	23 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred John Keeffe	Teresa Elizabeth Perry
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred John Keefe	Teresa Elizabeth Perry
	💍 1914/7563
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stable Proprietor	Housekeeper
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Fairlie	Fairlie
Length of Residence	34 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Temuka
Folio	1649
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Fr. Lezer

16 March 1914

James Robert Washington
Ellen Blyth

James Robert Washington
Ellen Blyth
💍 1914/7904

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

28
20

Temuka
Temuka

28 years
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Temuka

1397

Mary Lizzie Blyth (Mother)

16 March 1914

Rev. Chas Macdonald

No	3
Date of Notice	16 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robert Washington	Ellen Blyth
	💍 1914/7904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Temuka
Length of Residence	28 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Temuka
Folio	1397
Consent	Mary Lizzie Blyth (Mother)
Date of Certificate	16 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Chas Macdonald

18 March 1914

Andrew Rollo Guild
Enid Aspinall

Andrew Rollo Guild
Enid Aspinall
💍 1914/8321

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

28
24

Temuka
Temuka

28 years
24 years

St. Peters Church, Temuka

1937

18 March 1914

Rev. A. A. Norris

No	4
Date of Notice	18 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Rollo Guild	Enid Aspinall
	💍 1914/8321
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Temuka
Length of Residence	28 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Peters Church, Temuka
Folio	1937
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. A. Norris

19 March 1914

Hugh Kennedy
Agnes Crawford Gillespie

Hugh Kennedy
Agnes Crawford Gillespie
💍 1914/6727

Bachelor
Divorced

Labourer
Domestic duties

28
30

Temuka
Washdyke

2 years
2 months

Registrars Office, Timaru

381

19 March 1914

Registrar, Timaru

No	5
Date of Notice	19 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Kennedy	Agnes Crawford Gillespie
	💍 1914/6727
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Washdyke
Length of Residence	2 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Timaru
Folio	381
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Timaru

20 March 1914

George Guiseppe Albeniz Banchi Coira
Alice Bevin Comer

George Guiseppe Albenie Banchi Coira
Alice Bevin Comer
💍 1914/5866

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic duties

28
25

Temuka
Temuka

3 days
25 years

St. Peters, Church of England, Temuka

3300

20 March 1914

Rev. A. H. Norris

No	6
Date of Notice	20 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Guiseppe Albeniz Banchi Coira	Alice Bevin Comer
BDM Match (99%)	George Guiseppe Albenie Banchi Coira	Alice Bevin Comer
	💍 1914/5866
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic duties
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Temuka
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Peters, Church of England, Temuka
Folio	3300
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Norris

27 March 1914

Samuel James Northam
Mary Hearn

Samuel James Northam
May Hearn
💍 1914/5865

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
29

Rangitata Island
Rangitata Island

9 years
26 years

Residence H. Hearn, Rangitata Island

3299

27 March 1914

Rev. A. A. Norris

No	7
Date of Notice	27 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel James Northam	Mary Hearn
BDM Match (95%)	Samuel James Northam	May Hearn
	💍 1914/5865
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	29
Dwelling Place	Rangitata Island	Rangitata Island
Length of Residence	9 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence H. Hearn, Rangitata Island
Folio	3299
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. A. Norris

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).