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 2150

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

534

6 July 1914

Vincent Clark Parker
Elizabeth Joseph

Vincent Clark Parker
Elizabeth Joseph
💍 1914/5273

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

34
36

Rolleston
Burnham

10 months
4 days

House of Mr Robt. Parker, Burnham

9122

6 July 1914

Rev. J. S. Reid, Presbyterian

No	534
Date of Notice	6 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vincent Clark Parker	Elizabeth Joseph
	💍 1914/5273
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	36
Dwelling Place	Rolleston	Burnham
Length of Residence	10 months	4 days
Marriage Place	House of Mr Robt. Parker, Burnham
Folio	9122
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Reid, Presbyterian

535

6 July 1914

Arthur Thomas Hughes
Elsie Muriel Blackler

Arthur Thomas Hughes
Elsie Muriel Blackler
💍 1914/2508

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Milliner

26
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
15 years

House of Mr G. Blackler, 109 Kilmore St, Christchurch

6237

6 July 1914

Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

No	535
Date of Notice	6 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Thomas Hughes	Elsie Muriel Blackler
	💍 1914/2508
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Milliner
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr G. Blackler, 109 Kilmore St, Christchurch
Folio	6237
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

536

6 July 1914

James Wallace Phillip Pedler
Emily Barnett

James Wallace Phillip Pedler
Emily Barnett
💍 1914/9440

Bachelor
Spinster

P.O. Messenger

22
19

Richmond
Christchurch

22 years
3 years

Methodist Church, Cambridge Tee., Christchurch

6279

Sarah Ann Reese formerly Barnett, Mother

6 July 1914

Rev. B. Metson, Methodist

No	536
Date of Notice	6 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wallace Phillip Pedler	Emily Barnett
	💍 1914/9440
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	P.O. Messenger
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Cambridge Tee., Christchurch
Folio	6279
Consent	Sarah Ann Reese formerly Barnett, Mother
Date of Certificate	6 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Metson, Methodist

537

6 July 1914

Richard William Fitzsimons
Mabel Beatrice Gray

Richard William Fitzsimons
Mabel Beatrice Gray
💍 1914/2524

Bachelor
Spinster

Brass Turner
Saleswoman

26
26

Sydenham
Bromley

24 years
6 months

St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

6252

6 July 1914

Rev. F. N. Taylor, Anglican

No	537
Date of Notice	6 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard William Fitzsimons	Mabel Beatrice Gray
	💍 1914/2524
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brass Turner	Saleswoman
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Bromley
Length of Residence	24 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	6252
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. N. Taylor, Anglican

538

7 July 1914

John Munro
Rosanna Murdock

John Munro
Rosanna Murdoch
💍 1914/2394

Widower, 21.10.1911
Spinster

Factory Hand

44
37

Islington
Hornby

5 years
10 months

St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch

6171

7 July 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	538
Date of Notice	7 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Munro	Rosanna Murdock
BDM Match (97%)	John Munro	Rosanna Murdoch
	💍 1914/2394
Condition	Widower, 21.10.1911	Spinster
Profession	Factory Hand
Age	44	37
Dwelling Place	Islington	Hornby
Length of Residence	5 years	10 months
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch
Folio	6171
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 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).