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 2965

District of Riverton Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar A. B. Wallis

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

926

23 July 1914

James Robbie
Jane Fallow Brown

James Robbie
Jane Fallon Brown
💍 1914/2743

bachelor
spinster

farmer
Household duties

35
22

Mokotua
Waimatuku

1 year
22 years

Dwelling of Mr John Steele Brown at Waimatuku

6527

23 July 1914

Rev John Chisholm

No	926
Date of Notice	23 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robbie	Jane Fallow Brown
BDM Match (97%)	James Robbie	Jane Fallon Brown
	💍 1914/2743
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	farmer	Household duties
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Mokotua	Waimatuku
Length of Residence	1 year	22 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr John Steele Brown at Waimatuku
Folio	6527
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev John Chisholm

927

4 August 1914

Francis Benjamin Bailey
Phoebe Maud Church

Frances Benjamin Bailey
Phoebe Maud Church
💍 1914/2811

bachelor
spinster

Tallyman
Domestic

29
23

South Riverton
South Riverton

29 years
3 days

Church of England Riverton

6638

4 August 1914

Rev James Morland

No	927
Date of Notice	4 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Benjamin Bailey	Phoebe Maud Church
BDM Match (98%)	Frances Benjamin Bailey	Phoebe Maud Church
	💍 1914/2811
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	Tallyman	Domestic
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	South Riverton	South Riverton
Length of Residence	29 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of England Riverton
Folio	6638
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev James Morland

928

11 August 1914

James Henry Cosgrove
Kate Lancett

James Henry Cosgrove
Kate Lancett
💍 1914/2814

bachelor
spinster

Painter
Household duties

22
28

Riverton
Riverton

3 months
3 weeks at Riverton

Dwelling of Mr William Watson at Riverton

6641

11 August 1914

Rev William Watson

No	928
Date of Notice	11 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Cosgrove	Kate Lancett
	💍 1914/2814
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	Painter	Household duties
Age	22	28
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	3 months	3 weeks at Riverton
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr William Watson at Riverton
Folio	6641
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev William Watson

929

21 August 1914

William John Winters
Janet Peace

William John Winton
Janet Peace
💍 1914/2879

bachelor
spinster

Builder
Dressmaker

54
39

Riverton
Clifton

54 years
30 years in Clifton

St Peter's Church, Elles Road, Invercargill

6607

21 August 1914

Rev George P. Hunt

No	929
Date of Notice	21 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Winters	Janet Peace
BDM Match (93%)	William John Winton	Janet Peace
	💍 1914/2879
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	Builder	Dressmaker
Age	54	39
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Clifton
Length of Residence	54 years	30 years in Clifton
Marriage Place	St Peter's Church, Elles Road, Invercargill
Folio	6607
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev George P. Hunt

930

2 September 1914

Robert William Frew
Mary Victoria Eade

Robert William Frew
Mary Victoria Eade
💍 1914/2813

bachelor
spinster

Labourer
Household duties

33
19

Riverton
Riverton

33 years
3 days

Dwelling of Rev William Watson at Riverton

6640

Henry Eade, father

2 September 1914

Rev William Watson

No	930
Date of Notice	2 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert William Frew	Mary Victoria Eade
	💍 1914/2813
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household duties
Age	33	19
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	33 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Rev William Watson at Riverton
Folio	6640
Consent	Henry Eade, father
Date of Certificate	2 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev William Watson

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).