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 2535

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 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

170

2 April 1914

Richard Dalzell Heathman
Annie Horsburgh

Richard Dalzell Heathman
Annie Honburgh
💍 1914/9245

Bachelor
Spinster

waiter

32
31

Dunedin
Dunedin

6 years
10 years

In the Presbyterian Church South Dunedin

4318

2 April 1914

R. Fairmaid

No	170
Date of Notice	2 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Dalzell Heathman	Annie Horsburgh
BDM Match (93%)	Richard Dalzell Heathman	Annie Honburgh
	💍 1914/9245
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	waiter
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church South Dunedin
Folio	4318
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1914
Officiating Minister	R. Fairmaid

171

2 April 1914

James Barron
Winifred Ellen Fraser

James Barron
Winifred Ellen Fraser
💍 1914/6164

Bachelor
Spinster

grocer

40
25

Dunedin
Shag Point

30 years
23 years

In the house of W. A. Fraser Shag Point

3699

2 April 1914

W. Nichol

No	171
Date of Notice	2 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Barron	Winifred Ellen Fraser
	💍 1914/6164
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	grocer
Age	40	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Shag Point
Length of Residence	30 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the house of W. A. Fraser Shag Point
Folio	3699
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Nichol

172

2 April 1914

Edward Scott
Agnes Chapman Alexander

Edward Scott
Agnes Chapman Alexander
💍 1914/6342

Bachelor
Spinster

plumber

23
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 months
5 years

In Trinity Methodist Church Stuart Street Dunedin

3904

2 April 1914

F. T. Read

No	172
Date of Notice	2 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Scott	Agnes Chapman Alexander
	💍 1914/6342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	plumber
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 months	5 years
Marriage Place	In Trinity Methodist Church Stuart Street Dunedin
Folio	3904
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1914
Officiating Minister	F. T. Read

173

3 April 1914

Isaac Henry Cortissos
Nellie Maude Ross

Isaac Henry Cortissos
Nellie Maude Ross
💍 1914/8952

Bachelor
Spinster

hairdresser

28
22

Dunedin
Dunedin

28 years
3 days

In St Matthew's Church Dunedin

4021

3 April 1914

W. Curzon-Siggers

No	173
Date of Notice	3 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Henry Cortissos	Nellie Maude Ross
	💍 1914/8952
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	hairdresser
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	28 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In St Matthew's Church Dunedin
Folio	4021
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Curzon-Siggers

174

3 April 1914

John Mayne Lowry
Gladys Stratford Matilda Kate Poole

John Maym Lowry
Gladys Stratford Matilda Kate Poole
💍 1914/6276

Bachelor
Spinster

civil servant

42
26

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 years
26 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

3837

3 April 1914

H. Maxwell

No	174
Date of Notice	3 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mayne Lowry	Gladys Stratford Matilda Kate Poole
BDM Match (94%)	John Maym Lowry	Gladys Stratford Matilda Kate Poole
	💍 1914/6276
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	civil servant
Age	42	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	26 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	3837
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1914
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

175

3 April 1914

George Robinson
Elizabeth Marion Smith

George Robinson
Elizabeth Marion Smith
💍 1914/8941

Bachelor
Spinster

salesman

23
27

Mornington
Dunedin

15 years
8 years

In the house of W. H. T. Smith 17 Baker Street Caversham

4011

3 April 1914

F. T. Read

No	175
Date of Notice	3 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robinson	Elizabeth Marion Smith
	💍 1914/8941
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	salesman
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Dunedin
Length of Residence	15 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In the house of W. H. T. Smith 17 Baker Street Caversham
Folio	4011
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1914
Officiating Minister	F. T. Read

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).