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 2156

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

564

20 July 1914

Robert John Watson
Jane Selina Weastell

Robert John Watson
Jane Selina Weastell
💍 1914/2485

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

41
42

Sydenham
Sydenham

1 week
1 week

St. David's Church, Colombo St., Sydenham

6212

20 July 1914

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	564
Date of Notice	20 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Watson	Jane Selina Weastell
	💍 1914/2485
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	41	42
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	St. David's Church, Colombo St., Sydenham
Folio	6212
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

565

21 July 1914

James Henry Bartley
Mary Easterbrook

James Henry Bartley
Mary Easterbrook
💍 1914/2534

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer

33
39

Greenpark
Greenpark

18 months
32 years

Anglican Church, Greenpark

6264

21 July 1914

Rev. F. B. Redgrave, Anglican

No	565
Date of Notice	21 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Bartley	Mary Easterbrook
	💍 1914/2534
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer
Age	33	39
Dwelling Place	Greenpark	Greenpark
Length of Residence	18 months	32 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Greenpark
Folio	6264
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. B. Redgrave, Anglican

566

21 July 1914

Malcolm McCormack
Caroline Newman

Malcolm McCormick
Caroline Newman
💍 1914/2987

Widower Feb. 2. 1907.
Spinster

Art Dealer
Forewoman

50
38

Christchurch
Linwood

2 years
18 months

House of Mr. Frank Mathews, 408 Armagh St., Linwood

6814

21 July 1914

Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Methodist

No	566
Date of Notice	21 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Malcolm McCormack	Caroline Newman
BDM Match (97%)	Malcolm McCormick	Caroline Newman
	💍 1914/2987
Condition	Widower Feb. 2. 1907.	Spinster
Profession	Art Dealer	Forewoman
Age	50	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	2 years	18 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Frank Mathews, 408 Armagh St., Linwood
Folio	6814
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Methodist

567

21 July 1914

William Houston
Annie Doig Grubb

William Houston
Annie Doig Grubb
💍 1914/9458

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
30

Christchurch
Sydenham

3 days
2 years

Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

6284

21 July 1914

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	567
Date of Notice	21 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Houston	Annie Doig Grubb
	💍 1914/9458
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	6284
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

568

22 July 1914

Herbert Hammond
Anne Catherine Milligan

Herbert Hammond
Anne Catherine Milligan
💍 1914/2397

Bachelor
Spinster

Oil & Colour Merchant
Nurse

50
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
9 years

Residence of S. W. H. Simpson, Latimer Sq., Christchurch

6173

22 July 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	568
Date of Notice	22 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Hammond	Anne Catherine Milligan
	💍 1914/2397
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Oil & Colour Merchant	Nurse
Age	50	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Residence of S. W. H. Simpson, Latimer Sq., Christchurch
Folio	6173
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie, 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).