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 2552

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 1914 Registrar Henry 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

275

8 May 1914

Charles Edward Price
Ellen Searle

Charles Edward Price
Ellen Searle
💍 1914/6437

Bachelor
Spinster

Quarryman

37
29

Dunedin
Dunedin

7 years
7 years

In the house of M. W. Boyer, 18 Smith Street, Dunedin

3972

8 May 1914

W. Walker

No	275
Date of Notice	8 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Price	Ellen Searle
	💍 1914/6437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Quarryman
Age	37	29
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	7 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In the house of M. W. Boyer, 18 Smith Street, Dunedin
Folio	3972
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Walker

276

8 May 1914

Joseph Dyer
Nina Amy Gentleman

Joseph Dyer
Nina Amy Gentleman
💍 1914/6433

Bachelor
Spinster

Porter

30
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 year
6 years

In the house of the Rev. E. A. Axelsen, 6 View Street, Dunedin

3969

8 May 1914

E. A. Axelsen

No	276
Date of Notice	8 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Dyer	Nina Amy Gentleman
	💍 1914/6433
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Porter
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev. E. A. Axelsen, 6 View Street, Dunedin
Folio	3969
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1914
Officiating Minister	E. A. Axelsen

277

8 May 1914

Henry Bruno Cordes
Mary Jane Adamson

Henry Bruno Cordes
Mary Jane Adamson
💍 1914/6436

Bachelor
Spinster

Dyer

31
26

Dunedin
Maori Hill

30 years
26 years

In the Presbyterian Church, Maori Hill

3971

8 May 1914

H. H. Barton

No	277
Date of Notice	8 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Bruno Cordes	Mary Jane Adamson
	💍 1914/6436
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dyer
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Maori Hill
Length of Residence	30 years	26 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, Maori Hill
Folio	3971
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1914
Officiating Minister	H. H. Barton

278

8 May 1914

Anthon Sofus Moiller
Ellen Moore

Anthon Lofus Miller
Ellen Moore
💍 1914/9307

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner

34
28

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
1 year

In the Presbyterian Church, South Dunedin

4455

8 May 1914

W. Dutton

No	278
Date of Notice	8 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Anthon Sofus Moiller	Ellen Moore
BDM Match (95%)	Anthon Lofus Miller	Ellen Moore
	💍 1914/9307
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, South Dunedin
Folio	4455
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Dutton

279

11 May 1914

John Fleetwood Tamblyn
Bertha Hogg

John Fleetwood Tamblyn
Bertha Hogg
💍 1914/6435

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

30
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In Knox Church, Dunedin

3970

11 May 1914

J. C. Jamieson

No	279
Date of Notice	11 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Fleetwood Tamblyn	Bertha Hogg
	💍 1914/6435
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In Knox Church, Dunedin
Folio	3970
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1914
Officiating Minister	J. C. Jamieson

280

12 May 1914

William Nicol Blaikie
Natalie Janet Cowie

William Nicol Blaikie
Natalie Janet Cowie
💍 1914/9582

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

38
31

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
22 years

In St Peters Church, Caversham

4405

12 May 1914

E. D. Evans

No	280
Date of Notice	12 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Nicol Blaikie	Natalie Janet Cowie
	💍 1914/9582
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	31
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	In St Peters Church, Caversham
Folio	4405
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1914
Officiating Minister	E. D. Evans

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).