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 2769

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 31 December 1914 Registrar Stuart Ros 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

14 October 1914

Thomas Gordon
Letitia Wallace Fox

Thomas Gordon
Letitia Wallace Fogo
💍 1914/4158

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician
Dressmaker

39
38

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
38 years

Residence of Mr Fox, Grey St, Port Chalmers

8098

14 October 1914

Rev. Alex Whyte

No	19
Date of Notice	14 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Gordon	Letitia Wallace Fox
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Gordon	Letitia Wallace Fogo
	💍 1914/4158
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician	Dressmaker
Age	39	38
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	38 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Fox, Grey St, Port Chalmers
Folio	8098
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex Whyte

21 October 1914

Harry Thomas
Isabella Hay

Harry Thomas
Isabella Hay
💍 1914/4157

Bachelor
Spinster

Boilermaker
Domestic

26
30

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

2 years
30 years

Congregational Church, Port Chalmers

8097

21 October 1914

Rev. Wm M Grant

No	20
Date of Notice	21 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Thomas	Isabella Hay
	💍 1914/4157
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker	Domestic
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	2 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	8097
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm M Grant

28 October 1914

Andrew Mackie
Niven Miller Ellen Tunnage

Bachelor
Spinster

Boatbuilder
Tailoress

23
24

Careys Bay
Careys Bay

3 years
4 years

Holy Trinity Church, Port Chalmers

8100

28 October 1914

Rev. H B Goertz

No	21
Date of Notice	28 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Mackie	Niven Miller Ellen Tunnage
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boatbuilder	Tailoress
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Careys Bay	Careys Bay
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	8100
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H B Goertz

29 October 1914

Thomas Scollay
Emily Mudge

Thomas Scollay
Emily Mudge
💍 1914/4159

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist
Press Agent

40
36

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

14 years
20 years

Residence of Mrs Mudge, Port Chalmers

8099

29 October 1914

Rev. Wm M Grant

No	22
Date of Notice	29 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Scollay	Emily Mudge
	💍 1914/4159
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist	Press Agent
Age	40	36
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	14 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Mudge, Port Chalmers
Folio	8099
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm M Grant

26 November 1914

William Henry Marsden
Jean McHaffie Dukes

William Henry Marsden
Jean McHaffie
💍 1914/4155

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Domestic Duties

26
22

Present Port Chalmers, usual Geraldine
Present Port Chalmers, usual Ashburton

5 days
5 days

Presbyterian Church, Port Chalmers

8095

26 November 1914

Rev. Alex Whyte

No	23
Date of Notice	26 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Marsden	Jean McHaffie Dukes
BDM Match (84%)	William Henry Marsden	Jean McHaffie
	💍 1914/4155
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Domestic Duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Present Port Chalmers, usual Geraldine	Present Port Chalmers, usual Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	8095
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex Whyte

28 November 1914

Frederick McBoll
Laura Rosina Berney

Frederick McColl
Laura Rosina Burney
💍 1914/4156

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

24
23

Present Port Chalmers, usual Owaka
Present Port Chalmers, usual Owaka

3 days
3 days

Holy Trinity Church, Port Chalmers

8096

28 November 1914

Rev. A J Petrie

No	24
Date of Notice	28 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick McBoll	Laura Rosina Berney
BDM Match (94%)	Frederick McColl	Laura Rosina Burney
	💍 1914/4156
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Present Port Chalmers, usual Owaka	Present Port Chalmers, usual Owaka
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	8096
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A J Petrie

19 December 1914

Charles Andrew McLean
Lucy Collett

Charles Andrew McLean
Lucy Collett
💍 1914/4149

Bachelor
Spinster

Tinsmith
Domestic Duties

24
28

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
28 years

Residence of Mr Collett, Port Chalmers

8094

19 December 1914

Rev. Wm M Grant

No	25
Date of Notice	19 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Andrew McLean	Lucy Collett
	💍 1914/4149
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith	Domestic Duties
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Collett, Port Chalmers
Folio	8094
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm M Grant

21 December 1914

George Wall Lowes
Grace Mawson Thomson

George Wall Lowes
Grace Mawson Thomson
💍 1914/4229

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Nurse

30
28

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
28 years

Presbyterian Church, Port Chalmers

8092

21 December 1914

Rev. Alex Whyte

No	26
Date of Notice	21 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wall Lowes	Grace Mawson Thomson
	💍 1914/4229
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Nurse
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	8092
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex Whyte

22 December 1914

Donald Noble Bissett
Henrietta Jane Driver

Donald Noble Bissett
Henrietta Jane Driver
💍 1914/4138

Widower
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Duties

35
37

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
37 years

Residence of Mrs Driver, Ajax Rd, Port Chalmers

8093

22 December 1914

Rev. Wm M Grant

No	27
Date of Notice	22 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Noble Bissett	Henrietta Jane Driver
	💍 1914/4138
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	35	37
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	37 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Driver, Ajax Rd, Port Chalmers
Folio	8093
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm M Grant

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).