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 2138

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

481

9 June 1914

George Thomas Terry
Annie Thomas

George Thomas Gerry
Annie Thomas
💍 1914/6104

Bachelor
Spinster

Millowner

28
22

Lincoln
Lincoln

6 years
22 years

Presbyterian Church Lincoln

3665

9 June 1914

Rev. S. E. Hill, Presbyterian

No	481
Date of Notice	9 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Thomas Terry	Annie Thomas
BDM Match (97%)	George Thomas Gerry	Annie Thomas
	💍 1914/6104
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Millowner
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Lincoln	Lincoln
Length of Residence	6 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Lincoln
Folio	3665
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. E. Hill, Presbyterian

482

9 June 1914

Edward Boocock
Evaline Amelia Ford

Edward Boocock
Evaline Amelia Ford
💍 1914/5909

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

26
24

Papanui
Papanui

3 days
24 years

St. Paul's Church Papanui

3397

9 June 1914

Rev. W. H. Orbell, Anglican

No	482
Date of Notice	9 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Boocock	Evaline Amelia Ford
	💍 1914/5909
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Papanui
Folio	3397
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Orbell, Anglican

483

9 June 1914

Claude Lionel Peters
Evelina Lilian Tucker

Claude Lionel Peters
Evelina Lilian Tucker
💍 1914/1067

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Milliner

25
24

Christchurch
St. Albans

2 years
9 years

House of Mr. R. A. Tucker, 258 Edgeware Rd. St. Albans

4683

9 June 1914

Rev. L. B. Neale, Methodist

No	483
Date of Notice	9 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude Lionel Peters	Evelina Lilian Tucker
	💍 1914/1067
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Milliner
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	2 years	9 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. R. A. Tucker, 258 Edgeware Rd. St. Albans
Folio	4683
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. B. Neale, Methodist

484

10 June 1914

Joseph Andrew Stacey
Ethel Maude Maberley

Joseph Andrew Stacey
Ethel Maude Maberly
💍 1914/6051

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastrycook
Shop Assistant

38
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

House of Mr. Maberley, 7 Bishop St. Christchurch

3612

10 June 1914

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	484
Date of Notice	10 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Andrew Stacey	Ethel Maude Maberley
BDM Match (98%)	Joseph Andrew Stacey	Ethel Maude Maberly
	💍 1914/6051
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastrycook	Shop Assistant
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Maberley, 7 Bishop St. Christchurch
Folio	3612
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

485

10 June 1914

Frank Pearce
Jessie Amelia Parker

Frank Pearce
Jessie Amelia Parker
💍 1914/6120

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Draper Assistant

30
23

Riccarton
Sydenham

4 years
3 years

St. Saviour's Church Sydenham

3657

10 June 1914

Rev. H. D. Leach, Anglican

No	485
Date of Notice	10 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Pearce	Jessie Amelia Parker
	💍 1914/6120
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Draper Assistant
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Sydenham
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church Sydenham
Folio	3657
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. D. Leach, 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).