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 2166

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

614

10 August 1914

Leonard Harold Sadler
Elizabeth Ann Webb

Leonard Harold Sadler
Elizabeth Ann Webb
💍 1914/2444

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

6146

10 August 1914

Rev. C. Coates, Anglican

No	614
Date of Notice	10 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Harold Sadler	Elizabeth Ann Webb
	💍 1914/2444
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	6146
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Coates, Anglican

615

10 August 1914

Lawrence Charles Dennis
Myrtle Christina Felton

Laurence Charles Dennis
Myrtle Christina Felton
💍 1914/2463

Bachelor
Spinster

Shop Assistant
Switchboard Attendant

22
22

Christchurch
Addington

5 years
22 years

St. John's Church Christchurch

6190

10 August 1914

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	615
Date of Notice	10 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Charles Dennis	Myrtle Christina Felton
BDM Match (98%)	Laurence Charles Dennis	Myrtle Christina Felton
	💍 1914/2463
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shop Assistant	Switchboard Attendant
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Addington
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church Christchurch
Folio	6190
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

616

11 August 1914

Charles Constantine Massey
Lavrine Dorthea Rugsted

Charles Constantine Massey
Laurene Dorthea Rugsted
💍 1914/2497

Bachelor
Spinster

Staff Sergt Major N.Z. Def. Forces
Schoolmistress

26
30

St. Albans
Christchurch

26 years
30 years

Residence of Mrs L. D. Rugsted 911 Colombo St. Christchurch

6225

11 August 1914

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	616
Date of Notice	11 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Constantine Massey	Lavrine Dorthea Rugsted
BDM Match (96%)	Charles Constantine Massey	Laurene Dorthea Rugsted
	💍 1914/2497
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Staff Sergt Major N.Z. Def. Forces	Schoolmistress
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs L. D. Rugsted 911 Colombo St. Christchurch
Folio	6225
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

617

12 August 1914

Charles Philip Manhart
Dorothy Minnie Ballans

Charles Philip Manhart
Dorothy Minnie Ballans
💍 1914/9166

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

26
19

Linwood
Sydenham

3 years
6 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

6115

Joseph Ballans, Father.

12 August 1914

Registrar

No	617
Date of Notice	12 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Philip Manhart	Dorothy Minnie Ballans
	💍 1914/9166
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	6115
Consent	Joseph Ballans, Father.
Date of Certificate	12 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

618

12 August 1914

Robert John Nicolle
Marian Emily Fenetta Rich

Robert John Nicolle
Marion Emily Fenetta Rich
💍 1914/2530

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

29
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
7 years

St. Mark's Church Opawa

6235

12 August 1914

Rev. E. E. Chambers, Anglican

No	618
Date of Notice	12 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Nicolle	Marian Emily Fenetta Rich
BDM Match (98%)	Robert John Nicolle	Marion Emily Fenetta Rich
	💍 1914/2530
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church Opawa
Folio	6235
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. E. Chambers, 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).