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 2977

District of Winton Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar Alexander McLeod

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

166

20 January 1914

Adam Baird
Cora Stewart

Adam Baird
Cora Stewart
💍 1914/8210

Bachelor
Spinster

Dealer
Dressmaker

37
26

Winton
Winton

6 years
13 years

Presbyterian Church Winton

1825

20 January 1914

Rev. Knight

No	166
Date of Notice	20 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Baird	Cora Stewart
	💍 1914/8210
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dealer	Dressmaker
Age	37	26
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	6 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Winton
Folio	1825
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Knight

167

10 February 1914

Beford Ambrose Davis
Isabel Muriel Hawkins

Elford Ambrose Davis
Isabella Muriel Hawkins
💍 1914/7681

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

32
24

Centre Bush
Centre Bush

7 years
24 years

Residence of M. Hawkins Centre Bush

1827

10 February 1914

Rev. R. Mackie

No	167
Date of Notice	10 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Beford Ambrose Davis	Isabel Muriel Hawkins
BDM Match (91%)	Elford Ambrose Davis	Isabella Muriel Hawkins
	💍 1914/7681
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Centre Bush	Centre Bush
Length of Residence	7 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of M. Hawkins Centre Bush
Folio	1827
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie

168

14 February 1914

William Henry Dixon
Katherine Williamson

William Henry Dixon
Katherine Williamson
💍 1914/7675

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

28
26

Browns
Browns

10 years
2 months

Holy Trinity Church Winton

1840

14 February 1914

Rev. C. E. P. Webb

No	168
Date of Notice	14 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Dixon	Katherine Williamson
	💍 1914/7675
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Browns	Browns
Length of Residence	10 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Winton
Folio	1840
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. P. Webb

169

17 February 1914

John Baird
Elizabeth Kelly Livingstone Lockerbie

John Baird
Elizabeth Kelly Livingstone Lockerbie
💍 1914/7687

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

48
34

Otapiri Gorge
Otapiri Gorge

25 years
17 years

House of Mr T. K. Lockerbie Otapiri Gorge

1828

17 February 1914

Rev. R. Mackie

No	169
Date of Notice	17 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Baird	Elizabeth Kelly Livingstone Lockerbie
	💍 1914/7687
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	48	34
Dwelling Place	Otapiri Gorge	Otapiri Gorge
Length of Residence	25 years	17 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr T. K. Lockerbie Otapiri Gorge
Folio	1828
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie

170

23 February 1914

Dixon William Henry
Katherine Williamson

William Henry Dixon
Katherine Williamson
💍 1914/7675

Edwin William Read
Queenie Williamson
💍 1914/761

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

28
26

Browns
Browns

10 years
2 months

House of J. H. McKenzie Barkly

1840

23 February 1914

Rev. C. E. P. Webb

No	170
Date of Notice	23 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Dixon William Henry	Katherine Williamson
BDM Match (68%)	William Henry Dixon	Katherine Williamson
	💍 1914/7675
BDM Match (64%)	Edwin William Read	Queenie Williamson
	💍 1914/761
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Browns	Browns
Length of Residence	10 years	2 months
Marriage Place	House of J. H. McKenzie Barkly
Folio	1840
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. P. Webb

171

28 February 1914

Alexander Gerrans
Sarah Ann Gibson Macalister

Alexander Gerrard
Sarah Ann Gibson Macalister
💍 1914/8182

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

43
40

Barkly
Invercargill

43 years
37 years

Knox Church Invercargill

1797

28 February 1914

Rev. J. Shaw

No	171
Date of Notice	28 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Gerrans	Sarah Ann Gibson Macalister
BDM Match (94%)	Alexander Gerrard	Sarah Ann Gibson Macalister
	💍 1914/8182
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	43	40
Dwelling Place	Barkly	Invercargill
Length of Residence	43 years	37 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church Invercargill
Folio	1797
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Shaw

172

31 March 1914

Robert Carter Frisby
Jane Brown

Robert Carter Frisby
Jane Brown
💍 1914/6388

Robert Bailey Lyon
Kate Brown
💍 1914/20

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

21
19

Springhills
Hokonui

21 years
19 years

House of W. H. Brown Hokonui

5798

William Henry Brown, Father

31 March 1914

Rev. A. K. Ross

No	172
Date of Notice	31 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Carter Frisby	Jane Brown
	💍 1914/6388
BDM Match (65%)	Robert Bailey Lyon	Kate Brown
	💍 1914/20
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Springhills	Hokonui
Length of Residence	21 years	19 years
Marriage Place	House of W. H. Brown Hokonui
Folio	5798
Consent	William Henry Brown, Father
Date of Certificate	31 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. K. Ross

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).