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 2983

District of Winton Quarter ending 31 December 1914 Registrar Alexander Inhead

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

185

7 October 1914

Gordon John
Rizzi Eva

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

26
20

Waipahi
Kauana

7 days
20 years

Residence of Antonio Rizzi, Kauana

914

Antonio Rizzi, Father

7 October 1914

Rev. F. J. Tylee

No	185
Date of Notice	7 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon John	Rizzi Eva
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Waipahi	Kauana
Length of Residence	7 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Antonio Rizzi, Kauana
Folio	914
Consent	Antonio Rizzi, Father
Date of Certificate	7 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. J. Tylee

186

9 October 1914

Rumler Frederick Thomas
Henderson Margaret Lily

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
20

Otapiri
Otapiri

3 years
20 years

Residence of John Henderson, Otapiri

8285

John Henderson, Father

9 October 1914

Rev. Thomas Knight

No	186
Date of Notice	9 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rumler Frederick Thomas	Henderson Margaret Lily
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Otapiri	Otapiri
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Henderson, Otapiri
Folio	8285
Consent	John Henderson, Father
Date of Certificate	9 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Knight

187

19 October 1914

Hermann Albert Theodore
Neill Margaret Ann

Bachelor
Spinster

Chauffeur
Domestic duties

21
24

Dunedin
Winton

4 months
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Winton

8289

19 October 1914

Rev. P. O'Neill

No	187
Date of Notice	19 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hermann Albert Theodore	Neill Margaret Ann
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chauffeur	Domestic duties
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Winton
Length of Residence	4 months	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	8289
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Neill

188

27 October 1914

O'Malley Walter
Sheehan Kathleen Lillian

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Domestic duties

22
21

Winton
Winton

4 years
4 years

Roman Catholic Church, Winton

8290

27 October 1914

Rev. P. O'Neill

No	188
Date of Notice	27 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	O'Malley Walter	Sheehan Kathleen Lillian
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	8290
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Neill

189

2 November 1914

Staite Thomas Mitchell
McClymont Jane

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

29
29

Lumsden
Limehills

29 years
29 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Winton

8288

2 November 1914

A. Inhead, Registrar of Marriages

No	189
Date of Notice	2 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Staite Thomas Mitchell	McClymont Jane
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Lumsden	Limehills
Length of Residence	29 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Winton
Folio	8288
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1914
Officiating Minister	A. Inhead, Registrar of Marriages

190

16 November 1914

Broad Herbert Joshua
McInerney Mary Julia

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist
Domestic duties

33
23

Winton
Winton

3 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Winton

8287

16 November 1914

Rev. F. O'Connell

No	190
Date of Notice	16 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Broad Herbert Joshua	McInerney Mary Julia
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist	Domestic duties
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	8287
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. O'Connell

191

3 December 1914

Wilson Thomas John
Harris Ethel

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
23

South Hillend
Centre Bush

27 years
3 years

Residence of Robert Harris, Centre Bush

8284

3 December 1914

Rev. R. Mackie

No	191
Date of Notice	3 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilson Thomas John	Harris Ethel
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	South Hillend	Centre Bush
Length of Residence	27 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Robert Harris, Centre Bush
Folio	8284
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie

192

5 December 1914

Taylor Francis Norman
Simpson Matilda

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

21
21

Heddon Bush
Heddon Bush

4 years
4 years

Residence of Joseph Taylor, Heddon Bush

8286

5 December 1914

Rev. Thomas Knight

No	192
Date of Notice	5 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Taylor Francis Norman	Simpson Matilda
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Heddon Bush	Heddon Bush
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Joseph Taylor, Heddon Bush
Folio	8286
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Knight

193

14 December 1914

Herbert Arthur William
Laidlaw Margaret Anderson

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheesemaker
Domestic duties

24
20

Winton
Woodlands

2 months
11 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

8235

John Laidlaw, Father

14 December 1914

The Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	193
Date of Notice	14 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Arthur William	Laidlaw Margaret Anderson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheesemaker	Domestic duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Winton	Woodlands
Length of Residence	2 months	11 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	8235
Consent	John Laidlaw, Father
Date of Certificate	14 December 1914
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

194

19 December 1914

Holmes James Henry
Macaskill Mary

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

38
42

Tokonui
Winton

3 days
6 months

Presbyterian Church, Winton

8282

19 December 1914

Rev. R. Mackie

No	194
Date of Notice	19 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Holmes James Henry	Macaskill Mary
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	38	42
Dwelling Place	Tokonui	Winton
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Winton
Folio	8282
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie

195

23 December 1914

Dykes William
Watson Helen

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Engineer
Domestic duties

34
25

Paeroa
Heddon Bush

5 days
4 years

Residence of Mrs. L. Watson, Heddon Bush

8283

23 December 1914

Rev. R. Mackie

No	195
Date of Notice	23 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Dykes William	Watson Helen
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Engineer	Domestic duties
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Heddon Bush
Length of Residence	5 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. L. Watson, Heddon Bush
Folio	8283
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie

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).