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 2515

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

2 February 1914

James Douglas Cursey
Delia Hynes

James Douglas Cursey
Delia Hynes
💍 1914/533

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

32
34

Dunedin
Dunedin

32 years
2 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

223

2 February 1914

Henry Maxwell, Registrar of Marriages

No	51
Date of Notice	2 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Douglas Cursey	Delia Hynes
	💍 1914/533
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	32	34
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	32 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	223
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Henry Maxwell, Registrar of Marriages

3 February 1914

William Linklater
Barbara Alice Dewar

William Linklater
Barbara Alice Dewar
💍 1914/9364

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant
Typiste

29
29

Roslyn
Roslyn

4 days
3 days

In the house of Mrs Maggie Dewar, 12 Bellevue Street, Roslyn

4334

3 February 1914

A. Gray

No	52
Date of Notice	3 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Linklater	Barbara Alice Dewar
	💍 1914/9364
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant	Typiste
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Roslyn
Length of Residence	4 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Maggie Dewar, 12 Bellevue Street, Roslyn
Folio	4334
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1914
Officiating Minister	A. Gray

4 February 1914

Joseph Edwards
Edith Gascorgne

Joseph Edwards
Edith Gascoigne
💍 1914/534

Widower
Spinster

Advertising expert

36
32

Dunedin
Dunedin

30 years
1 year

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

224

4 February 1914

Henry Maxwell, Registrar of Marriages

No	53
Date of Notice	4 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Edwards	Edith Gascorgne
BDM Match (97%)	Joseph Edwards	Edith Gascoigne
	💍 1914/534
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Advertising expert
Age	36	32
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	30 years	1 year
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	224
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Henry Maxwell, Registrar of Marriages

4 February 1914

Norris Blaxall
Elizabeth Theodora Laurie

Norris Blaxall
Elizabeth Theodora Laurie
💍 1914/9573

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller

20
20

Dunedin
Dunedin

16 months
20 years

In St Peter's Church, Caversham

4402

Edward Robert Scott Blaxall and Frederick Arthur Laurie, Fathers respectively

4 February 1914

E. D. Evans

No	54
Date of Notice	4 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norris Blaxall	Elizabeth Theodora Laurie
	💍 1914/9573
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	16 months	20 years
Marriage Place	In St Peter's Church, Caversham
Folio	4402
Consent	Edward Robert Scott Blaxall and Frederick Arthur Laurie, Fathers respectively
Date of Certificate	4 February 1914
Officiating Minister	E. D. Evans

4 February 1914

Richard Gordon Simpson
Jane Clementina Davidson

Richard Gordon Simpson
Jane Clementina Davidson
💍 1914/535

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist

25
31

Green Island
Green Island

15 years
3 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

225

4 February 1914

Henry Maxwell, Registrar of Marriages

No	55
Date of Notice	4 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Gordon Simpson	Jane Clementina Davidson
	💍 1914/535
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	25	31
Dwelling Place	Green Island	Green Island
Length of Residence	15 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	225
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Henry Maxwell, Registrar of Marriages

4 February 1914

Frederick Thomas Williams
Ellen Eliza Connor

Frederick Thomas Williams
Ellen Eliza Connor
💍 1914/543

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

49
46

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 years
30 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

226

4 February 1914

Henry Maxwell, Registrar of Marriages

No	56
Date of Notice	4 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Thomas Williams	Ellen Eliza Connor
	💍 1914/543
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	49	46
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 years	30 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	226
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Henry Maxwell, Registrar of Marriages

4 February 1914

Herbert Daniel Robert Mason
Susan Catherine Violet Brook

Herbert Daniel Robert Mason
Susan Catherine Violet Brooke
💍 1914/8109

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

22
24

Dunedin
Dunedin

22 years
5 weeks

In the house of Mr B. Harness, Pennant Street, Roslyn

1673

4 February 1914

R. R. M. Sutherland

No	57
Date of Notice	4 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Daniel Robert Mason	Susan Catherine Violet Brook
BDM Match (98%)	Herbert Daniel Robert Mason	Susan Catherine Violet Brooke
	💍 1914/8109
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	22 years	5 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr B. Harness, Pennant Street, Roslyn
Folio	1673
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1914
Officiating Minister	R. R. M. Sutherland

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).