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 2991

District of Wyndham Quarter ending 31 December 1914 Registrar W. Stephenson

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

20 October 1914

Henry Arthur Wynter Blathwayt
Ruth Glanfield Carr

Henry Arthur Wynter Blathwayt
Ruth Glanfield Carr
💍 1914/4437

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk in Holy Orders
Domestic duties

44
30

Lumsden
Leiston, England

2 years
30 years

The Anglican Church, Wyndham

8382

20 October 1914

Rev H. C. R. C. Blathwayt, Wyndham

No	25
Date of Notice	20 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Arthur Wynter Blathwayt	Ruth Glanfield Carr
	💍 1914/4437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk in Holy Orders	Domestic duties
Age	44	30
Dwelling Place	Lumsden	Leiston, England
Length of Residence	2 years	30 years
Marriage Place	The Anglican Church, Wyndham
Folio	8382
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev H. C. R. C. Blathwayt, Wyndham

10 December 1914

William Thomas
Margaret Ann McAteer

William Thomson
Margaret Ann McAteer
💍 1914/4281

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic servant

27
34

Seaward Downs
Wyndham

6 months
9 months

The Presbyterian Church, Wyndham

8145

10 December 1914

Rev J. Clark, Wyndham

No	26
Date of Notice	10 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas	Margaret Ann McAteer
BDM Match (90%)	William Thomson	Margaret Ann McAteer
	💍 1914/4281
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic servant
Age	27	34
Dwelling Place	Seaward Downs	Wyndham
Length of Residence	6 months	9 months
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Wyndham
Folio	8145
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Clark, Wyndham

16 December 1914

Archibald McKechnie
Jessie Isabella Kilker

Archibald McKechnie
Jessie Isabella Kirker
💍 1914/4504

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Dressmaker

25
27

Edendale
Wyndham

3 months
10 years

The residence of Mrs Isabella Kilker, Wyndham

8291

16 December 1914

Rev J. Pringle, Edendale

No	27
Date of Notice	16 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald McKechnie	Jessie Isabella Kilker
BDM Match (98%)	Archibald McKechnie	Jessie Isabella Kirker
	💍 1914/4504
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Dressmaker
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Edendale	Wyndham
Length of Residence	3 months	10 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mrs Isabella Kilker, Wyndham
Folio	8291
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Pringle, Edendale

28 December 1914

John Chaplain
Emily Frances Love Cunningham

John Chaplain
Emily Frances Love Cunningham
💍 1914/4280

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Dressmaker

30
28

Dunedin
Wyndham

5 days
17 years

The residence of Mrs Mary Cunningham, Ferry St, Wyndham

8144

28 December 1914

Rev J. Clark, Wyndham

No	28
Date of Notice	28 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Chaplain	Emily Frances Love Cunningham
	💍 1914/4280
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Dressmaker
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Wyndham
Length of Residence	5 days	17 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mrs Mary Cunningham, Ferry St, Wyndham
Folio	8144
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Clark, Wyndham

28 December 1914

William Gemmell
Isabella Gall Forsyth

William Gemmell
Isabella Gall Forsyth
💍 1914/4273

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Domestic

28
29

Dunedin
Wyndham

5 days
14 years

The residence of Mr James Forsyth, Ferry St, Wyndham

8143

28 December 1914

Rev J. Clark, Wyndham

No	29
Date of Notice	28 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gemmell	Isabella Gall Forsyth
	💍 1914/4273
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Domestic
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Wyndham
Length of Residence	5 days	14 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr James Forsyth, Ferry St, Wyndham
Folio	8143
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Clark, Wyndham

31 December 1914

Alexander Ross
Elizabeth Margaret McMillan Ballantyne

Alexander Glass
Elizabeth Margaret McMillan Ballantyne
💍 1915/13273

Bachelor
Spinster

Iron turner
Domestic duties

34
27

Woodlands
Edendale

3 years
7 years

First Church Manse, Tay Street, Invercargill

1512

31 December 1914

Rev R. M. Ryburn, Invercargill

No	30
Date of Notice	31 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Ross	Elizabeth Margaret McMillan Ballantyne
BDM Match (90%)	Alexander Glass	Elizabeth Margaret McMillan Ballantyne
	💍 1915/13273
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Iron turner	Domestic duties
Age	34	27
Dwelling Place	Woodlands	Edendale
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	First Church Manse, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	1512
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev R. M. Ryburn, Invercargill

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).