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 2388

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar Alexander Montgomery

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

21 January 1914

Worthington Powell
Frances Harriet Archibald

Worthington Powell
Francis Harriet Archibald
💍 1914/8296

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

24
24

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
4 days

Dwellinghouse of H. Allchurch, Jackson St, Timaru

1912

21 January 1914

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	9
Date of Notice	21 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Worthington Powell	Frances Harriet Archibald
BDM Match (98%)	Worthington Powell	Francis Harriet Archibald
	💍 1914/8296
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of H. Allchurch, Jackson St, Timaru
Folio	1912
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

26 January 1914

William Walsh
Mary Catherine Ward

William Walsh
Mary Catherine Ward
💍 1914/7906

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper's Salesman
Household duties

33
30

Timaru
Timaru

14 years
9 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

1398

26 January 1914

Dean Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	10
Date of Notice	26 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Walsh	Mary Catherine Ward
	💍 1914/7906
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper's Salesman	Household duties
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	14 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	1398
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Dean Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

26 January 1914

Edward Martin Collinson
Agnes Moyes

Edward Martin Collinson
Agnes Myer
💍 1914/6575

Widower
Spinster

Woolclasser
Domestic servant

44
21

Timaru
Timaru

20 years
14 years

Registrar's Office, Timaru

375

26 January 1914

Alex. Montgomery, Registrar

No	11
Date of Notice	26 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Martin Collinson	Agnes Moyes
BDM Match (91%)	Edward Martin Collinson	Agnes Myer
	💍 1914/6575
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Woolclasser	Domestic servant
Age	44	21
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	20 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	375
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Alex. Montgomery, Registrar

24 January 1914

Herman Lionel Monsen
Kathleen Halle

Herman Lionel Monsen
Kathleen Halle
💍 1914/8297

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

36
34

Motukaika
Timaru

12 months
4 days

Manse of Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Timaru

1913

24 January 1914

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	12
Date of Notice	24 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herman Lionel Monsen	Kathleen Halle
	💍 1914/8297
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	36	34
Dwelling Place	Motukaika	Timaru
Length of Residence	12 months	4 days
Marriage Place	Manse of Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Timaru
Folio	1913
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

31 January 1914

John Leonard
Olive Gertrude Ellen Rendall

John Leonard
Olive Gertrude Ellen Rendall
💍 1914/7907

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm hand
Domestic servant

38
30

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

St Mary's English Church, Timaru

1399

31 January 1914

Rev. Charles Coates, Church of England Clergyman

No	13
Date of Notice	31 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Leonard	Olive Gertrude Ellen Rendall
	💍 1914/7907
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm hand	Domestic servant
Age	38	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	1399
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Coates, Church of England Clergyman

2 February 1914

Patrick Michael Goulding
Ethel Baker

Patrick Michael Goulding
Ethel Baker
💍 1914/7908

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Stationer's assistant

25
20

Timaru
Timaru

2 years
20 years

Dwellinghouse of Mrs E. J. Baker, 95 Arthur St, Timaru

1400

Elizabeth Tremeer Baker, Mother

2 February 1914

Rev. J. H. G. Chapple, Unitarian Minister

No	14
Date of Notice	2 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Michael Goulding	Ethel Baker
	💍 1914/7908
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Stationer's assistant
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mrs E. J. Baker, 95 Arthur St, Timaru
Folio	1400
Consent	Elizabeth Tremeer Baker, Mother
Date of Certificate	2 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. G. Chapple, Unitarian Minister

4 February 1914

George Kernick
Lily Rose Hilton

George Kernick
Lily Rose Hilton
💍 1914/7909

Bachelor
Spinster

Shop assistant
Domestic duties

28
24

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
24 years

Congregational Church, Timaru

1401

4 February 1914

Rev. I. Sarginson, Congregational Minister

No	15
Date of Notice	4 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Kernick	Lily Rose Hilton
	💍 1914/7909
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shop assistant	Domestic duties
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Timaru
Folio	1401
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Sarginson, Congregational Minister

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).