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 2152

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

544

11 July 1914

Henry Stewart Keegan
Elizabeth Kininmont Maconachie

Henry Stewart Keegan
Elizabeth Kininmont Maconachie
💍 1914/2502

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraph Lineman

31
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 weeks
2 years

Knox Manse, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch

6207

11 July 1914

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	544
Date of Notice	11 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Stewart Keegan	Elizabeth Kininmont Maconachie
	💍 1914/2502
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraph Lineman
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 weeks	2 years
Marriage Place	Knox Manse, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	6207
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

545

13 July 1914

Walter Fisher
Esther Fletcher

Walter Fisher
Esther Fletcher
💍 1914/9452

Widower, 2.12.1912
Spinster

Boilermaker

29
27

Sydenham
Sydenham

Life
1 month

House of Mr. O. Hensley, 47 Hawdon Street, Sydenham

6298

13 July 1914

Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

No	545
Date of Notice	13 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Fisher	Esther Fletcher
	💍 1914/9452
Condition	Widower, 2.12.1912	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	Life	1 month
Marriage Place	House of Mr. O. Hensley, 47 Hawdon Street, Sydenham
Folio	6298
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

546

13 July 1914

William Lindsay Notman
Lallie Dorothy Palmer

William Lindsay Nolman
Lallie Dorothy Palmer
💍 1914/9451

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician
Musician

20
19

Addington
Addington

20 years
19 years

Methodist Church, Selwyn Street, Christchurch

6280

Edith Rose Notman, mother; Mary Palmer, mother

13 July 1914

Rev. T. W. Vealie, Methodist

No	546
Date of Notice	13 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lindsay Notman	Lallie Dorothy Palmer
BDM Match (98%)	William Lindsay Nolman	Lallie Dorothy Palmer
	💍 1914/9451
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician	Musician
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	20 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Selwyn Street, Christchurch
Folio	6280
Consent	Edith Rose Notman, mother; Mary Palmer, mother
Date of Certificate	13 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Vealie, Methodist

547

13 July 1914

Stanley Samuel Judd
Lillian Hill

Stanley Samuel Judd
Lillian Hill
💍 1914/2546

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Tailoress

24
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
Life

House of Mrs. Leslie, Banks Avenue, Shirley

6275

13 July 1914

Rev. A. Liversedge, Methodist

No	547
Date of Notice	13 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Samuel Judd	Lillian Hill
	💍 1914/2546
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Tailoress
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Leslie, Banks Avenue, Shirley
Folio	6275
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Liversedge, Methodist

548

13 July 1914

Walter Frederick Kerr
Catherine Amelia McMeekan

Walter Frederick Kerr
Catherine Amelia McMeckan
💍 1914/2515

Widower, 3.1.1913
Spinster

Draper
Schoolteacher

38
40

East Oxford
Christchurch

5 years
4 days

Residence of Mr. McMeekan, Edward Street, Riccarton

6244

13 July 1914

Rev. D. D. Rodger, Presbyterian

No	548
Date of Notice	13 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Frederick Kerr	Catherine Amelia McMeekan
BDM Match (98%)	Walter Frederick Kerr	Catherine Amelia McMeckan
	💍 1914/2515
Condition	Widower, 3.1.1913	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Schoolteacher
Age	38	40
Dwelling Place	East Oxford	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. McMeekan, Edward Street, Riccarton
Folio	6244
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. D. Rodger, 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).