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 2178

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

674

1 September 1914

Richard Harman Middlemiss
Agnes Louisa Lunt

Richard Harman Middlemiss
Agnes Louisa Lunt
💍 1914/2477

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
4 years

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

6180

1 September 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	674
Date of Notice	1 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Harman Middlemiss	Agnes Louisa Lunt
	💍 1914/2477
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	6180
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie, Presbyterian

675

1 September 1914

John Odgers
Mary Jane McKeown

John Odgers
Mary Jane McKeown
💍 1914/2462

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Schoolteacher

34
34

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 days
34 years

St. John's Church, Christchurch

6189

1 September 1914

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	675
Date of Notice	1 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Odgers	Mary Jane McKeown
	💍 1914/2462
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Schoolteacher
Age	34	34
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 days	34 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	6189
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

676

1 September 1914

William Alfred Sigglekow
Eileen Marguerite Macdonald

William Alfred Sigglekow
Eileen Marguerite Macdonald
💍 1914/2385

Bachelor
Spinster

Linotypist

27
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 months
12 months

Roman Catholic Cathedral Presbytery, Christchurch

6162

1 September 1914

Rev. T. W. Price, Roman Catholic

No	676
Date of Notice	1 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Sigglekow	Eileen Marguerite Macdonald
	💍 1914/2385
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Linotypist
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Presbytery, Christchurch
Folio	6162
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Price, Roman Catholic

677

2 September 1914

Harold Edwin Edwards
Florance Levenna Costley

Harold Edwin Edwards
Florence Levenna Costley
💍 1914/2990

Bachelor
Widow - 6.6.1912

Furniture Salesman

32
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
31 years

House of Mr. W. Rogers, 16 Beresford St., Linwood

6817

2 September 1914

Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Methodist

No	677
Date of Notice	2 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Edwin Edwards	Florance Levenna Costley
BDM Match (98%)	Harold Edwin Edwards	Florence Levenna Costley
	💍 1914/2990
Condition	Bachelor	Widow - 6.6.1912
Profession	Furniture Salesman
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	31 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. Rogers, 16 Beresford St., Linwood
Folio	6817
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Methodist

678

2 September 1914

Thomas George Nankivell
Margaret Jack

Thomas George Nankivell
Margaret Jack
💍 1914/4917

Thomas Miller
Margaret Jack
💍 1914/4223

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Laundress

23
25

Dallington
Christchurch

10 years
4 years

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

8841

2 September 1914

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	678
Date of Notice	2 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas George Nankivell	Margaret Jack
	💍 1914/4917
BDM Match (67%)	Thomas Miller	Margaret Jack
	💍 1914/4223
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Laundress
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Dallington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	8841
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

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).