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 2522

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

101

27 February 1914

Arthur George Bossward
Barbara Emrie Spiers

Arthur George Borsward
Barbara Emrie Spiers
💍 1914/8123

Bachelor
Divorced

seaman

27
38

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 weeks
18 months

In the Presbyterian Church South Dunedin

1688

27 February 1914

R. Fairmaid

No	101
Date of Notice	27 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur George Bossward	Barbara Emrie Spiers
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur George Borsward	Barbara Emrie Spiers
	💍 1914/8123
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	seaman
Age	27	38
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 weeks	18 months
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church South Dunedin
Folio	1688
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1914
Officiating Minister	R. Fairmaid

102

28 February 1914

Donald Alexander John Rutherford
Wilhelmina Brown Mathieson

Donald Alexander John Rutherford
Wilhelmina Brown Mathieson
💍 1914/6343

Bachelor
Spinster

teacher

25
26

Highcliff
Highcliff

2 years
26 years

In the house of Mr James Mathieson Highcliff

3905

28 February 1914

G. McDonald

No	102
Date of Notice	28 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Alexander John Rutherford	Wilhelmina Brown Mathieson
	💍 1914/6343
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	teacher
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Highcliff	Highcliff
Length of Residence	2 years	26 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr James Mathieson Highcliff
Folio	3905
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1914
Officiating Minister	G. McDonald

103

28 February 1914

George Francis Mackie
Mabel Harriet McKenzie

George Francis Mackie
Mabel Harriet McKenzie
💍 1914/8059

Bachelor
Spinster

clerk

23
19

Dunedin
Dunedin

23 years
19 years

In Knox Church Vestry Dunedin

1573

Helen McKenzie mother

28 February 1914

R. E. Davies

No	103
Date of Notice	28 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Francis Mackie	Mabel Harriet McKenzie
	💍 1914/8059
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	clerk
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	23 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church Vestry Dunedin
Folio	1573
Consent	Helen McKenzie mother
Date of Certificate	28 February 1914
Officiating Minister	R. E. Davies

104

2 March 1914

Leslie Norman Fleming
Nettie Caroline Moller

Leslie Norman Fleming
Nettie Caroline Moller
💍 1914/7542

Bachelor
Spinster

bank clerk

28
32

West Harbour
West Harbour

3 days
3 days

In St Paul's Cathedral Dunedin

1580

2 March 1914

H. G. Gould

No	104
Date of Notice	2 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Norman Fleming	Nettie Caroline Moller
	💍 1914/7542
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	bank clerk
Age	28	32
Dwelling Place	West Harbour	West Harbour
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St Paul's Cathedral Dunedin
Folio	1580
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1914
Officiating Minister	H. G. Gould

105

2 March 1914

Robert Cunningham Smith
Margery Kathleen Bagnell

Robert Cunningham Smith
Margery Kathleen Bagnell
💍 1914/8128

Bachelor
Spinster

machinist

24
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

16 months
13 years

In St Paul's Cathedral Dunedin

1693

2 March 1914

H. G. Gould

No	105
Date of Notice	2 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Cunningham Smith	Margery Kathleen Bagnell
	💍 1914/8128
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	machinist
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	16 months	13 years
Marriage Place	In St Paul's Cathedral Dunedin
Folio	1693
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1914
Officiating Minister	H. G. Gould

106

2 March 1914

David Allan
Hilda Mary Macdonald

David Allan
Hilda Mary Macdonald
💍 1914/7690

Bachelor
Spinster

manager

32
21

Dunedin
Edendale

9 years
21 years

Edendale House Edendale

1831

2 March 1914

H. Blaithwayt

No	106
Date of Notice	2 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Allan	Hilda Mary Macdonald
	💍 1914/7690
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	manager
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Edendale
Length of Residence	9 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Edendale House Edendale
Folio	1831
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1914
Officiating Minister	H. Blaithwayt

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).