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 2530

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 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

149

28 March 1914

James Henry Battersby
Helen Coats Mack

James Henry Battersby
Helen Coats Mack
💍 1914/8940

Bachelor
Spinster

advertising agent

28
26

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 years
8 years

In St Andrew's Church Dunedin

4010

28 March 1914

S. R. Orr

No	149
Date of Notice	28 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Battersby	Helen Coats Mack
	💍 1914/8940
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	advertising agent
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In St Andrew's Church Dunedin
Folio	4010
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1914
Officiating Minister	S. R. Orr

150

30 March 1914

John Rae
Kate Paton McIndoe

John Rae
Katie Paton McIndoe
💍 1914/9413

Bachelor
Spinster

labourer

27
21

Dunedin
Milton

3 months
6 weeks

In the Presbyterian Church Milton

4484

30 March 1914

S. W. Currie

No	150
Date of Notice	30 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Rae	Kate Paton McIndoe
BDM Match (97%)	John Rae	Katie Paton McIndoe
	💍 1914/9413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	labourer
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Milton
Length of Residence	3 months	6 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church Milton
Folio	4484
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1914
Officiating Minister	S. W. Currie

151

30 March 1914

Charles Trim
Bulimba Skow

Charles Trim
Bulimba Skow
💍 1914/8947

Bachelor
Spinster

grocer

26
27

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
3 years

In the Congregational Church Forbury Road Caversham

4017

30 March 1914

W. J. Ashford

No	151
Date of Notice	30 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Trim	Bulimba Skow
	💍 1914/8947
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	grocer
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church Forbury Road Caversham
Folio	4017
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1914
Officiating Minister	W. J. Ashford

152

31 March 1914

Thomas Oswald Lambie
Grace Smart

Thomas Oswald Lambie
Grace Smart
💍 1914/6406

Bachelor
Spinster

civil servant

27
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
25 years

In the house of Mr G. Smart 76 Arthur Street Dunedin

3392

31 March 1914

E. A. Axelsen

No	152
Date of Notice	31 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Oswald Lambie	Grace Smart
	💍 1914/6406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	civil servant
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr G. Smart 76 Arthur Street Dunedin
Folio	3392
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1914
Officiating Minister	E. A. Axelsen

153

31 March 1914

Albert Edward Johnstone
Emily Hughes

Albert Edward Johnstone
Emily Hughes
💍 1914/9381

Widower
Spinster

storeman

34
27

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 years
27 years

In St Stephens Church Dunedin

4398

31 March 1914

I. K. McIntyre

No	153
Date of Notice	31 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Johnstone	Emily Hughes
	💍 1914/9381
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	storeman
Age	34	27
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	27 years
Marriage Place	In St Stephens Church Dunedin
Folio	4398
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1914
Officiating Minister	I. K. McIntyre

154

31 March 1914

Joseph Lewis Monk
Margaret Duff

Joseph Lewis Mouth
Margaret Duff
💍 1914/871

Bachelor
Spinster

plasterer

25
24

Dunedin
Dunedin

25 years
24 years

In the Presbyterian Church Nairn Street Roslyn

4511

31 March 1914

R. R. M. Sutherland

No	154
Date of Notice	31 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Lewis Monk	Margaret Duff
BDM Match (92%)	Joseph Lewis Mouth	Margaret Duff
	💍 1914/871
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	plasterer
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	25 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church Nairn Street Roslyn
Folio	4511
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1914
Officiating Minister	R. R. M. Sutherland

155

31 March 1914

Edward Lyons
Helen Scott

Edward Lyons
Helen Scott
💍 1914/9352

Bachelor
Spinster

cabinetmaker

33
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
23 years

In the house of Mr W. Scott 63 King Edward Street Caversham

4328

31 March 1914

R. Fairmaid

No	155
Date of Notice	31 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Lyons	Helen Scott
	💍 1914/9352
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	cabinetmaker
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr W. Scott 63 King Edward Street Caversham
Folio	4328
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1914
Officiating Minister	R. Fairmaid

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).