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 2387

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar Alexander Montgomery

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

6 January 1914

George John Lovell Bracefield
Elizabeth Harrold

George John Lovell Bracefield
Elizabeth Harrold
💍 1914/8114

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic servant

28
24

Timaru
Timaru

28 years
7 months

St Mary's English Church, Timaru

1655

6 January 1914

Archdeacon Jacob, Church of England Clergyman

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George John Lovell Bracefield	Elizabeth Harrold
	💍 1914/8114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic servant
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	28 years	7 months
Marriage Place	St Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	1655
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Jacob, Church of England Clergyman

6 January 1914

Hubert Stanley Thoreau
Eva Westoby

Hubert Stanley Thoreau
Eva Westoby
💍 1914/8094

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

28
24

Fairview
Timaru

25 years
24 years

St Mary's English Church, Timaru

1651

6 January 1914

Archdeacon Jacob, Church of England Clergyman

No	2
Date of Notice	6 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hubert Stanley Thoreau	Eva Westoby
	💍 1914/8094
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Fairview	Timaru
Length of Residence	25 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	1651
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Jacob, Church of England Clergyman

10 January 1914

Joseph Albert Bott
Beatrice Winifred Nicholson

Joseph Albert Bott
Beatrice Winifred Nicholson
💍 1914/8113

Bachelor
Spinster

Stevedore
Household duties

28
25

Waimataitai
Newly arrived from England

11 months
-

The Lodge, Cain Street, Timaru

1654

10 January 1914

Rev. L. Hudson, Methodist Minister

No	3
Date of Notice	10 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Albert Bott	Beatrice Winifred Nicholson
	💍 1914/8113
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stevedore	Household duties
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Waimataitai	Newly arrived from England
Length of Residence	11 months	-
Marriage Place	The Lodge, Cain Street, Timaru
Folio	1654
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Hudson, Methodist Minister

13 January 1914

Robert White Meeken
Edith Helena Hill

Robert White Mechen
Edith Helena Hill
💍 1914/6573

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic servant

35
35

Fairview
Fairview

3 months
3 days

Registrar's Office, Timaru

373

13 January 1914

R. Orwin, Deputy Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	13 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert White Meeken	Edith Helena Hill
BDM Match (95%)	Robert White Mechen	Edith Helena Hill
	💍 1914/6573
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic servant
Age	35	35
Dwelling Place	Fairview	Fairview
Length of Residence	3 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	373
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1914
Officiating Minister	R. Orwin, Deputy Registrar

13 January 1914

John Edward Ward
Ethel Thoreau

John Edward Ward
Ethel Thoreau
💍 1914/7564

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

29
31

Timaru
Fairview

5 years
31 years

St Mary's English Church, Timaru

1650

13 January 1914

Rev. C. L. Wilson, Church of England Clergyman

No	5
Date of Notice	13 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Ward	Ethel Thoreau
	💍 1914/7564
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Fairview
Length of Residence	5 years	31 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	1650
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. L. Wilson, Church of England Clergyman

14 January 1914

John Baird
Emily Townend

John Baird
Emily Townend
💍 1914/7910

Bachelor
Spinster

Council Employee
Domestic duties

41
41

Timaru
Timaru

15 years
1 year

Wesleyan Church, Timaru

1402

14 January 1914

Rev. L. Hudson, Methodist Minister

No	6
Date of Notice	14 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Baird	Emily Townend
	💍 1914/7910
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Council Employee	Domestic duties
Age	41	41
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	15 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Timaru
Folio	1402
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Hudson, Methodist Minister

14 January 1914

William Cameron
Mary Hunter

William Cameron
Mary Hunter
💍 1914/8295

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic duties

38
30

Timaru
Timaru

2 years
5 days

Dwellinghouse of Bridegroom, Marchwiel Street, Timaru

1911

14 January 1914

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	7
Date of Notice	14 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Cameron	Mary Hunter
	💍 1914/8295
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	38	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 years	5 days
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Bridegroom, Marchwiel Street, Timaru
Folio	1911
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

19 January 1914

William Parlane
Georgina Eadie Walsh

William Parlane
Georgina Eadie Walsh
💍 1914/6574

Bachelor
Widow

Dairy Farmer
Domestic duties

48
38

Levels
Levels

3 years
9 years

Registrar's Office, Timaru

374

19 January 1914

Alex Montgomery, Registrar

No	8
Date of Notice	19 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Parlane	Georgina Eadie Walsh
	💍 1914/6574
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Dairy Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	48	38
Dwelling Place	Levels	Levels
Length of Residence	3 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	374
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Alex Montgomery, Registrar

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).