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 2518

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

16 February 1914

Walter Bennett
Mary Georgina Divett

Walter Bennett
Mary Georgina Divett
💍 1914/7544

Bachelor
Spinster

Chef

28
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
20 years

In St Matthews Church Dunedin

1582

16 February 1914

Wm. Curzon-Siggers

No	75
Date of Notice	16 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Bennett	Mary Georgina Divett
	💍 1914/7544
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chef
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	In St Matthews Church Dunedin
Folio	1582
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Wm. Curzon-Siggers

17 February 1914

Norman Moore
Alice Constance Browne

Norman Moore
Alice Constance Browne
💍 1914/8048

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

33
19

Dunedin
Dunedin

33 years
3 days

In St Joseph Cathedral Vestry Dunedin

1563

Courtney William Browne Father.

17 February 1914

W. Corcoran

No	76
Date of Notice	17 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Moore	Alice Constance Browne
	💍 1914/8048
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	33	19
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	33 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In St Joseph Cathedral Vestry Dunedin
Folio	1563
Consent	Courtney William Browne Father.
Date of Certificate	17 February 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Corcoran

19 February 1914

James Donaldson
Olive Winifred Bolton

James Donaldson
Olive Winifred Bolton
💍 1914/9362

Bachelor
Spinster

carpenter

24
22

West Harbour
West Harbour

11 years
22 years

In the Presbyterian Church Ravensbourne

4332

22 February 1914

A. Gray

No	77
Date of Notice	19 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Donaldson	Olive Winifred Bolton
	💍 1914/9362
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	carpenter
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	West Harbour	West Harbour
Length of Residence	11 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church Ravensbourne
Folio	4332
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1914
Officiating Minister	A. Gray

20 February 1914

Adam Scott
Jean Elizabeth Horn

Adam Scott
Jean Elizabeth Horn
💍 1914/8053

Bachelor
Spinster

clerk

21
20

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 weeks
7 months

In the Presbyterian Church South Dunedin

1568

James Horn father

20 February 1914

R. Fairmaid

No	78
Date of Notice	20 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Scott	Jean Elizabeth Horn
	💍 1914/8053
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	clerk
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 weeks	7 months
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church South Dunedin
Folio	1568
Consent	James Horn father
Date of Certificate	20 February 1914
Officiating Minister	R. Fairmaid

20 February 1914

David Webster
Elizabeth Maud Willcocks

David Webster
Elizabeth Maud Willcocks
💍 1914/8124

Bachelor
Spinster

letter-carrier

29
27

Dunedin
Dunedin

29 years
5 years

In the First Church Dunedin

1689

20 February 1914

G. H. Balfour.

No	79
Date of Notice	20 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Webster	Elizabeth Maud Willcocks
	💍 1914/8124
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	letter-carrier
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	29 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the First Church Dunedin
Folio	1689
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1914
Officiating Minister	G. H. Balfour.

20 February 1914

Thomas Maloney
Elizabeth Fowler

Thomas Maloney
Elizabeth Fowler
💍 1914/8050

Bachelor
Spinster

boilermaker

34
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

34 years
2 years

In St Joseph's Cathedral Vestry Dunedin

1565

20 February 1914

W. Corcoran.

No	80
Date of Notice	20 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Maloney	Elizabeth Fowler
	💍 1914/8050
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	boilermaker
Age	34	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	34 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In St Joseph's Cathedral Vestry Dunedin
Folio	1565
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Corcoran.

21 February 1914

William Robert Henry Storrey
Ethel Woodeward

William Robert Henry Storrey
Ethel Doodewark
💍 1914/7541

Bachelor
Spinster

cook

28
31

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
31 years

In Trinity Wesleyan Church Dunedin

1579

21 February 1914

P. W. Fairclough.

No	81
Date of Notice	21 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robert Henry Storrey	Ethel Woodeward
BDM Match (93%)	William Robert Henry Storrey	Ethel Doodewark
	💍 1914/7541
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	cook
Age	28	31
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	31 years
Marriage Place	In Trinity Wesleyan Church Dunedin
Folio	1579
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1914
Officiating Minister	P. W. Fairclough.

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).