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 2210

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1914

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

827

5 November 1914

Thomas William Penn
Caroline Alice Primmer

Thomas William Penn
Caroline Alice Primmer
💍 1914/9477

Divorced (Decree absolute 6.7.1914)
Widow (5.10.1906)

Labourer

43
34

Papanui
Papanui

2 months
2 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

7104

5 November 1914

Registrar

No	827
Date of Notice	5 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Penn	Caroline Alice Primmer
	💍 1914/9477
Condition	Divorced (Decree absolute 6.7.1914)	Widow (5.10.1906)
Profession	Labourer
Age	43	34
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	7104
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

828

5 November 1914

Albert Edward Sutton
Alice Leopold

Albert Edward Sutton
Alice Leopold
💍 1914/9478

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Waitress

33
20

Christchurch
Redcliffs

Life
12 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

7105

Albert Richard Leopold, Father

5 November 1914

Registrar

No	828
Date of Notice	5 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Sutton	Alice Leopold
	💍 1914/9478
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Waitress
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Redcliffs
Length of Residence	Life	12 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	7105
Consent	Albert Richard Leopold, Father
Date of Certificate	5 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

829

6 November 1914

Fredrick Charles Bigwood
Lily Brown

Frederick Charles Bigwood
Lily Brown
💍 1914/4924

Divorced (Decree absolute 6.12.1913)
Widow (25.3.1913)

Plumber

40
42

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
13 years

House of Rev. F. Rule, Richmond Terrace, Christchurch

8825

6 November 1914

Rev. F. Rule, Presbyterian

No	829
Date of Notice	6 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fredrick Charles Bigwood	Lily Brown
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Charles Bigwood	Lily Brown
	💍 1914/4924
Condition	Divorced (Decree absolute 6.12.1913)	Widow (25.3.1913)
Profession	Plumber
Age	40	42
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	13 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. F. Rule, Richmond Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	8825
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Rule, Presbyterian

830

6 November 1914

John Burness Niven
Emma Ann Law

John Burness Niven
Emma Ann Law
💍 1914/4925

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastrycook

34
27

Sydenham
Sydenham

18 months
8 months

House of Mr G. Beaton, 61 Harper Street, Sydenham

8826

6 November 1914

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	830
Date of Notice	6 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Burness Niven	Emma Ann Law
	💍 1914/4925
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastrycook
Age	34	27
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	18 months	8 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr G. Beaton, 61 Harper Street, Sydenham
Folio	8826
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

831

7 November 1914

Robert Stanley Hamilton Buchanan
Janie Stewart

Robert Stanley Hamilton Buchanan
Janie Stewart
💍 1914/3586

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironfounder

31
23

Christchurch
Onerahi, Whangarei

31 years
9 months

Church of England, Whangarei

7442

7 November 1914

Rev. H. A. Favell, Anglican

No	831
Date of Notice	7 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Stanley Hamilton Buchanan	Janie Stewart
	💍 1914/3586
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironfounder
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Onerahi, Whangarei
Length of Residence	31 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Whangarei
Folio	7442
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Favell, Anglican

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).