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 2765

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 30 June 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

2 April 1914

Bennet Bennett junr
Mary Harrod Beagley

Bennet Farquharson
Mary Harrod Beazley
💍 1914/6202

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable
Domestic Duties

24
24

Present Port Chalmers, usual Police Station Dunedin
Roseneath

3 days
10 years

Residence of James Beagley, Roseneath

3713

2 April 1914

Rev. W. M. Grant

No	8
Date of Notice	2 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bennet Bennett junr	Mary Harrod Beagley
BDM Match (68%)	Bennet Farquharson	Mary Harrod Beazley
	💍 1914/6202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable	Domestic Duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Present Port Chalmers, usual Police Station Dunedin	Roseneath
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James Beagley, Roseneath
Folio	3713
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Grant

9 April 1914

Reginald Austin Williamson
Ethel Graham

Reginald Austin Williamson
Ethel Graham
💍 1914/6222

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Officer
Domestic Duties

29
26

39 Magnetic Street, Port Chalmers
39 Magnetic Street, Port Chalmers

6 months
6 years

Residence of Mrs Graham, 39 Magnetic Street, Port Chalmers

3710

9 April 1914

Rev. W. M. Grant

No	9
Date of Notice	9 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Austin Williamson	Ethel Graham
	💍 1914/6222
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Officer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	39 Magnetic Street, Port Chalmers	39 Magnetic Street, Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	6 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Graham, 39 Magnetic Street, Port Chalmers
Folio	3710
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Grant

9 April 1914

Walter George McDermott
Margaret Kirkwood

Walter George McDermott
Margaret Kirkwood
💍 1914/6201

Bachelor
Spinster

Upholsterer
Tailoress

28
23

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

1 month
23 years

Congregational Church, Port Chalmers

3712

9 April 1914

Rev. W. M. Grant

No	10
Date of Notice	9 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter George McDermott	Margaret Kirkwood
	💍 1914/6201
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Upholsterer	Tailoress
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	1 month	23 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	3712
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Grant

20 April 1914

Ralph Brereton
Jane Dodds Thompson Stewart

Ralph Brereton
Jane Dodds Thompson Stewart
💍 1914/6199

Widower
Spinster

Jeweller

47
33

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
7 weeks

In the house of Mrs Stewart, Dalkeith, Port Chalmers

3709

20 April 1914

Rev. A. Whyte

No	11
Date of Notice	20 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Brereton	Jane Dodds Thompson Stewart
	💍 1914/6199
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller
Age	47	33
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	7 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Stewart, Dalkeith, Port Chalmers
Folio	3709
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Whyte

1 May 1914

Archibald Henry McGregor
Norah Veronica Mulqueen

Archibald Henry McGregor
Norah Veronica Mulqueen
💍 1914/2736

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic Duties

25
25

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

8 years
25 years

Catholic Church, Port Chalmers

6538

1 May 1914

Rev. James J. O'Reilly

No	12
Date of Notice	1 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Henry McGregor	Norah Veronica Mulqueen
	💍 1914/2736
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic Duties
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	8 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	6538
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. James J. O'Reilly

13 June 1914

Alfred Firth Jagger
Annie Graham

Albert Firth Jagger
Annie Graham
💍 1914/6203

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant
Domestic

37
31

Present Port Chalmers, usual Auckland
Port Chalmers

5 days
5 years

Residence of A. Graham, 39 Magnetic Street, Port Chalmers

3714

13 June 1914

Rev. W. M. Grant

No	13
Date of Notice	13 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Firth Jagger	Annie Graham
BDM Match (89%)	Albert Firth Jagger	Annie Graham
	💍 1914/6203
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant	Domestic
Age	37	31
Dwelling Place	Present Port Chalmers, usual Auckland	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	5 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of A. Graham, 39 Magnetic Street, Port Chalmers
Folio	3714
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Grant

22 June 1914

Joseph Rowe
Alice Jane Colson

Joseph Rowe
Alice Jane Calson
💍 1914/2737

Widower
Spinster

Railway Employee
Machinist

28
26

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

14 months
26 years

Roman Catholic Church, Port Chalmers

6539

22 June 1914

Rev. James J. O'Reilly

No	14
Date of Notice	22 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Rowe	Alice Jane Colson
BDM Match (97%)	Joseph Rowe	Alice Jane Calson
	💍 1914/2737
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Machinist
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	14 months	26 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	6539
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. James J. O'Reilly

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).