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 2572

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar H. Maxwell

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

399

17 July 1914

James Gray
Mary Reidy

James Gray
Mary Reidy
💍 1914/2760

Bachelor
Spinster

baker

23
26

Dunedin
Dunedin

6 years
8 years

St Joseph's Cathedral Dunedin

6437

17 July 1914

D. Buckley

No	399
Date of Notice	17 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gray	Mary Reidy
	💍 1914/2760
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	baker
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St Joseph's Cathedral Dunedin
Folio	6437
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1914
Officiating Minister	D. Buckley

400

20 July 1914

Gilbert George William Ranger
Lily May Ashton

Gilbert George William Ranger
Lily May Ashton
💍 1914/2704

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory manager

26
24

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 month
20 years

Baptist Church South Dunedin

6482

20 July 1914

J. F. Jones

No	400
Date of Notice	20 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert George William Ranger	Lily May Ashton
	💍 1914/2704
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory manager
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 month	20 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church South Dunedin
Folio	6482
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1914
Officiating Minister	J. F. Jones

401

20 July 1914

Henry Samuel Leith
Marion Grainger

Henry Samuel Leith
Marion Grainger
💍 1914/2703

Bachelor
Spinster

clerk

25
24

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 year
14 years

House of Mr J. Grainger, 39 Broughton Street, South Dunedin

6481

20 July 1914

A. J. Seamer

No	401
Date of Notice	20 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Samuel Leith	Marion Grainger
	💍 1914/2703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	clerk
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 year	14 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr J. Grainger, 39 Broughton Street, South Dunedin
Folio	6481
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1914
Officiating Minister	A. J. Seamer

402

21 July 1914

Charles Grindell
Margaret Allen McFarlane

Charles Grindell
Margaret Allan McFarlane
💍 1914/3027

Bachelor
Spinster

labourer

32
32

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
6 years

House of Mrs McFarlane, 146 Macandrew Road, South Dunedin

6780

21 July 1914

R. Fairmaid

No	402
Date of Notice	21 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Grindell	Margaret Allen McFarlane
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Grindell	Margaret Allan McFarlane
	💍 1914/3027
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	labourer
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs McFarlane, 146 Macandrew Road, South Dunedin
Folio	6780
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1914
Officiating Minister	R. Fairmaid

403

21 July 1914

Neil McLean Robertson
May Clark Wilson

Neil McLean Robertson
May Clark Wilson
💍 1914/9330

Bachelor
Spinster

stockdealer

23
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
4 years

Registrar's Office Dunedin

6378

21 July 1914

H. Maxwell

No	403
Date of Notice	21 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Neil McLean Robertson	May Clark Wilson
	💍 1914/9330
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	stockdealer
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Dunedin
Folio	6378
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1914
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

404

21 July 1914

William David Lewis
Charlotte Louisa Tubman

William David Lewis
Charlotte Louisa Tubman
💍 1914/2764

Bachelor
Spinster

steward

29
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

9 years
4 years

First Church Dunedin

6441

21 July 1914

G. H. Balfour

No	404
Date of Notice	21 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William David Lewis	Charlotte Louisa Tubman
	💍 1914/2764
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	steward
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	9 years	4 years
Marriage Place	First Church Dunedin
Folio	6441
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1914
Officiating Minister	G. H. Balfour

405

22 July 1914

William Henry Bates
Mary Og Nicholson

William Henry Bates
Mary Oq Nicholson
💍 1914/2617

Bachelor
Spinster

goldminer

48
38

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

St Paul's Cathedral Dunedin

6419

22 July 1914

H. G. Gould

No	405
Date of Notice	22 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Bates	Mary Og Nicholson
BDM Match (97%)	William Henry Bates	Mary Oq Nicholson
	💍 1914/2617
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	goldminer
Age	48	38
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Paul's Cathedral Dunedin
Folio	6419
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1914
Officiating Minister	H. G. Gould

406

22 July 1914

David Porter Wilson
Margaret Crawford

David Porter Wilson
Margaret Crawford
💍 1914/9459

Bachelor
Spinster

trainer

27
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

St Peter's Church Caversham

6285

22 July 1914

R. G. Coates

No	406
Date of Notice	22 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Porter Wilson	Margaret Crawford
	💍 1914/9459
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	trainer
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Peter's Church Caversham
Folio	6285
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1914
Officiating Minister	R. G. Coates

407

22 July 1914

Sydney George Taverner Smith
Gladys Eliza Lamb

Sydney George Taverner Smith
Gladys Eliza Lamb
💍 1914/9331

Bachelor
Spinster

accountant

25
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 years
21 years

Registrar's Office Dunedin

6379

22 July 1914

H. Maxwell

No	407
Date of Notice	22 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney George Taverner Smith	Gladys Eliza Lamb
	💍 1914/9331
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	accountant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Dunedin
Folio	6379
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1914
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

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).