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 2409

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 December 1914 Registrar Alex 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

139

5 October 1914

Francis Sumpter
Ellen Elizabeth Lewis

Francis Sumpter
Ellen Elizabeth Lewis
💍 1914/4061

Widower
Widow

Baker
Housekeeper

52
49

Timaru
Pleasant Point

4 years
9 days

Dwellinghouse of John Morton, Prospect Farm, Pleasant Point

7998

5 October 1914

Rev. R. J. Liddell, Methodist Minister

No	139
Date of Notice	5 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Sumpter	Ellen Elizabeth Lewis
	💍 1914/4061
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Baker	Housekeeper
Age	52	49
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Pleasant Point
Length of Residence	4 years	9 days
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of John Morton, Prospect Farm, Pleasant Point
Folio	7998
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Liddell, Methodist Minister

140

8 October 1914

Wallace Pearce Ingham
Millicent Jane Hathaway

Wallace Pearce Ingham
Milbrow Jane Hathaway
💍 1914/4085

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Household duties

22
31

Timaru
Timaru

2 years
31 years

Registrar's Office, Timaru

7972

8 October 1914

Alex Montgomery, Registrar

No	140
Date of Notice	8 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wallace Pearce Ingham	Millicent Jane Hathaway
BDM Match (87%)	Wallace Pearce Ingham	Milbrow Jane Hathaway
	💍 1914/4085
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household duties
Age	22	31
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	7972
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Alex Montgomery, Registrar

141

9 October 1914

James Patrick Evans
Mary Ellen Dowling

James Patrick Evans
Mary Ellen Dowling
💍 1914/5338

Bachelor
Spinster

Mercantile Clerk
Drapery Saleswoman

33
28

Timaru
Timaru

4 years
28 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

9267

9 October 1914

Rev. M. A. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

No	141
Date of Notice	9 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Patrick Evans	Mary Ellen Dowling
	💍 1914/5338
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mercantile Clerk	Drapery Saleswoman
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	9267
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. A. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

142

9 October 1914

William Edmonds
Nellie Beatrice Swain

William Edmonds
Nellie Beatrice Swain
💍 1914/4042

Widower
Spinster

Defence Department
Confectioner's Assistant

35
27

Timaru
Timaru

6 months
2 years

St Mary's English Church, Timaru

8003

9 October 1914

Archdeacon Jacob, Church of England Clergyman

No	142
Date of Notice	9 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edmonds	Nellie Beatrice Swain
	💍 1914/4042
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Defence Department	Confectioner's Assistant
Age	35	27
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 months	2 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	8003
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Jacob, Church of England Clergyman

143

13 October 1914

Edgar Albert Burn
Agnes Porter Stewart

Edgar Albert Burn
Agnes Porter Stewart
💍 1914/4040

Bachelor
Spinster

Butter Maker
Domestic duties

34
34

Timaru
Timaru

4 years
34 years

Dwellinghouse of Mrs J. Stewart, High St, Timaru

8001

13 October 1914

Rev. G. R. Harries, Presbyterian Minister

No	143
Date of Notice	13 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Albert Burn	Agnes Porter Stewart
	💍 1914/4040
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butter Maker	Domestic duties
Age	34	34
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 years	34 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mrs J. Stewart, High St, Timaru
Folio	8001
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. R. Harries, 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).