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 2763

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar Stuart Ross McDonald

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

26 January 1914

Charles Christopher Bullock
Ivy Myrtle Peters

Charles Christopher Bullock
Ivy Myrtle Peters
💍 1914/8232

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Officer
Dressmaker

25
20

At Sea
Port Chalmers

2 years
20 years

Residence of Wm Peters, Carey's Bay

1748

William Peters, father

26 January 1914

Rev. W. M. Grant

No	1
Date of Notice	26 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Christopher Bullock	Ivy Myrtle Peters
	💍 1914/8232
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Officer	Dressmaker
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	At Sea	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Wm Peters, Carey's Bay
Folio	1748
Consent	William Peters, father
Date of Certificate	26 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Grant

17 February 1914

Arthur Herbert Harold Turner Saunders
Daisy Gwendoline Easter Dougan

Arthur Harold Turner Saunders
Daisy Gwendoline Easter Dongan
💍 1914/8233

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Milliner

28
22

Present Port Chalmers, usual Takapau
Present Port Chalmers, usual Waipukurau

3 days (present), 2 years (usual)
2 months (present)

Presbyterian Church, Port Chalmers

1749

17 February 1914

Rev. A. Whyte

No	2
Date of Notice	17 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Herbert Harold Turner Saunders	Daisy Gwendoline Easter Dougan
BDM Match (88%)	Arthur Harold Turner Saunders	Daisy Gwendoline Easter Dongan
	💍 1914/8233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Milliner
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Present Port Chalmers, usual Takapau	Present Port Chalmers, usual Waipukurau
Length of Residence	3 days (present), 2 years (usual)	2 months (present)
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	1749
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Whyte

2 March 1914

Charles Henry Olds
Christina Jane Densem

Charles Henry Olds
Christina Jane Densem
💍 1914/8234

Bachelor
Spinster

Methodist Minister

29
28

Present Port Chalmers, usual Christchurch
Port Chalmers

7 days
2 years

Methodist Church, Port Chalmers

1750

2 March 1914

Rev. G. T. Marshall

No	3
Date of Notice	2 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Olds	Christina Jane Densem
	💍 1914/8234
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Methodist Minister
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Present Port Chalmers, usual Christchurch	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	7 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	1750
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. T. Marshall

4 March 1914

David Alexander Wilkie Middleton
Alice Irene Robertson

David Alexander Wilkie Middleton
Alice Arine Robertson
💍 1914/8235

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
20

Burns street, Port Chalmers
Burns street, Port Chalmers

6 months
15 years

Dwellinghouse of John Murray, Burns street, Port Chalmers

1751

Robert Robertson, Father

4 March 1914

Rev. A. Whyte

No	4
Date of Notice	4 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Alexander Wilkie Middleton	Alice Irene Robertson
BDM Match (95%)	David Alexander Wilkie Middleton	Alice Arine Robertson
	💍 1914/8235
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Burns street, Port Chalmers	Burns street, Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	6 months	15 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of John Murray, Burns street, Port Chalmers
Folio	1751
Consent	Robert Robertson, Father
Date of Certificate	4 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Whyte

18 March 1914

Victor Rupert Lacy
Martha Hoskins

Victor Rupert Lacey
Martha Hoskins
💍 1914/7595

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
29

41 George street, Port Chalmers
41 George street, Port Chalmers

9 months
29 years

Residence of W. Hoskins, George street, Port Chalmers

1752

18 March 1914

Major J. J. Toomer

No	5
Date of Notice	18 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Rupert Lacy	Martha Hoskins
BDM Match (97%)	Victor Rupert Lacey	Martha Hoskins
	💍 1914/7595
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	41 George street, Port Chalmers	41 George street, Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	9 months	29 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. Hoskins, George street, Port Chalmers
Folio	1752
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Major J. J. Toomer

24 March 1914

Launcelot George Allen
Violet Selina Solomon

Launcelot George Allen
Violet Selina Soloman
💍 1914/7606

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

29
24

Present Port Chalmers, usual Waitotara
Port Chalmers

3 days (present), 7 months (usual)
24 years

Congregational Church, Port Chalmers

1753

24 March 1914

Rev. W. M. Grant

No	6
Date of Notice	24 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Launcelot George Allen	Violet Selina Solomon
BDM Match (98%)	Launcelot George Allen	Violet Selina Soloman
	💍 1914/7606
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Present Port Chalmers, usual Waitotara	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days (present), 7 months (usual)	24 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	1753
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Grant

24 March 1914

William George Love
Helen Murray Mawson

William George Love
Helen Murray Mawson
💍 1914/6200

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic

27
26

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

27 years
9 years

The residence of Mr Mawson, Burns street, Port Chalmers

3711

24 March 1914

Rev. A. Whyte

No	7
Date of Notice	24 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Love	Helen Murray Mawson
	💍 1914/6200
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	27 years	9 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr Mawson, Burns street, Port Chalmers
Folio	3711
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Whyte

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).