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 2399

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 June 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

29 May 1914

Horace Edgar McLeod Carter
Alice Ruth Turner

Horace Edgar McLeod Carter
Alice Ruth Turner
💍 1914/5838

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Domestic duties

24
22

Timaru
Timaru

5 months
5 months

St Mary's English Church, Timaru

3373

29 May 1914

Archdeacon Jacob, Church of England Clergyman

No	84
Date of Notice	29 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace Edgar McLeod Carter	Alice Ruth Turner
	💍 1914/5838
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Domestic duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 months	5 months
Marriage Place	St Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	3373
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Jacob, Church of England Clergyman

24 May 1914

Thomas Berry
Catherine Fitzgerald

Thomas Berry
Catherine Fitzgerald
💍 1914/930

Bachelor
Spinster

Signalman
Dressmaker

31
30

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
10 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

4579

24 May 1914

Dean Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	85
Date of Notice	24 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Berry	Catherine Fitzgerald
	💍 1914/930
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Signalman	Dressmaker
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	4579
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Dean Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

28 May 1914

William John Clarke
Matilda Searle

William John Clarke
Matilda Searle
💍 1914/5837

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Housekeeper

36
43

Timaru
Timaru

13 months
1 month

St Mary's English Church, Timaru

3372

28 May 1914

Archdeacon Jacob, Church of England Clergyman

No	86
Date of Notice	28 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Clarke	Matilda Searle
	💍 1914/5837
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Housekeeper
Age	36	43
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	13 months	1 month
Marriage Place	St Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	3372
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Jacob, Church of England Clergyman

30 May 1914

Lancelot Le Cren Miles
Maud Beatrice Bruce

Lancelot Le Cren Miles
Maud Beatrice Bruce
💍 1914/6090

Bachelor
Spinster

Architect
Nil

28
24

Timaru
Christchurch

5 years
3 years

St Michael's English Church, Christchurch

3650

30 May 1914

Archdeacon Stocker pro J. G. S. [illegible], Church of England Clergyman

No	88
Date of Notice	30 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lancelot Le Cren Miles	Maud Beatrice Bruce
	💍 1914/6090
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Architect	Nil
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St Michael's English Church, Christchurch
Folio	3650
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Stocker pro J. G. S. [illegible], Church of England Clergyman

30 May 1914

Andrew Leslie Terras
Alice Ann Ritchie

Andrew Leslie Terras
Alice Ann Ritchie
💍 1914/6271

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Domestic duties

22
22

Timaru
Timaru

7 years
21 years 5 months

Dwellinghouse of Robert Ritchie, 5 Trafalgar St, Timaru

3808

30 May 1914

Rev. R. J. Liddell, Methodist Minister

No	89
Date of Notice	30 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Leslie Terras	Alice Ann Ritchie
	💍 1914/6271
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Domestic duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	7 years	21 years 5 months
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Robert Ritchie, 5 Trafalgar St, Timaru
Folio	3808
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Liddell, Methodist Minister

1 June 1914

Edward Michael Power
Alma Rita Leece

Edward Michael Power
Alma Rita Luce
💍 1914/937

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic servant

24
22

Timaru
Timaru

24 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

4580

1 June 1914

Rev. M. A. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

No	90
Date of Notice	1 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Michael Power	Alma Rita Leece
BDM Match (93%)	Edward Michael Power	Alma Rita Luce
	💍 1914/937
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic servant
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	24 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	4580
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. A. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

2 June 1914

Ernest Arthur Homer
Agnes Walker Reid

Ernest Arthur Horner
Agnes Walker Reid
💍 1914/868

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi Proprietor
Weaver

30
29

Timaru
Timaru

2 1/2 years
2 1/2 years

Dwellinghouse of Mrs M. Reid, Quarry Rd, Timaru

4534

2 June 1914

Rev. T. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	91
Date of Notice	2 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Arthur Homer	Agnes Walker Reid
BDM Match (95%)	Ernest Arthur Horner	Agnes Walker Reid
	💍 1914/868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi Proprietor	Weaver
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mrs M. Reid, Quarry Rd, Timaru
Folio	4534
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

2 June 1914

Sidney Malcolm Stuart
Elsie May Concher

Sidney Malcolm Stuart
Elsie May Concher
💍 1914/845

Widower
Spinster

Company Secretary
Domestic duties

38
24

Christchurch
Timaru

5 years
3 days

Manse of Rev. T. Stinson, Timaru

4535

2 June 1914

Rev. T. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	92
Date of Notice	2 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Malcolm Stuart	Elsie May Concher
	💍 1914/845
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Company Secretary	Domestic duties
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Manse of Rev. T. Stinson, Timaru
Folio	4535
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

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).