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 2122

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1914 Registrar Frank Evans

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

398

15 May 1914

William Harney
Catherine Margaret Henrietta Sieborg

William Harvey
Catherine Margaret Henrietta Sieborg
💍 1914/5906

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Builder
Dressmaker

22
25

Sydenham
Papanui

Life
11 years

St. Paul's Church, Papanui

3394

15 May 1914

Rev. W. H. Orbell

No	398
Date of Notice	15 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Harney	Catherine Margaret Henrietta Sieborg
BDM Match (96%)	William Harvey	Catherine Margaret Henrietta Sieborg
	💍 1914/5906
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Builder	Dressmaker
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Papanui
Length of Residence	Life	11 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Papanui
Folio	3394
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Orbell

399

15 May 1914

George Francis Oulds
Agnes Wallace McDonald

George Francis Oulds
Agnes Wallace McDonald
💍 1914/6093

Bachelor
Spinster

Mental Nurse
Mental Nurse

31
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
5 days

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

3630

15 May 1914

Rev. C. G. Mutter

No	399
Date of Notice	15 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Francis Oulds	Agnes Wallace McDonald
	💍 1914/6093
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mental Nurse	Mental Nurse
Age	31	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	5 days
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	3630
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. G. Mutter

400

16 May 1914

William Frederick Ernest Warren
Bessie Bell

William Frederick Ernest Warren
Bessie Bell
💍 1914/6034

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
22 years

St. John's Church, Christchurch

3595

16 May 1914

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	400
Date of Notice	16 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Ernest Warren	Bessie Bell
	💍 1914/6034
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	22 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	3595
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

401

18 May 1914

Alfred Emerson
Emily Maria Millman

Alfred Emerson
Emily Maria Millman
💍 1914/6096

Widower 13.11.1913
Spinster

Driver
Cook

40
41

Christchurch
Riccarton

10 years
3 years

Spiritualists' Church, Christchurch

3633

18 May 1914

Mr. W. Norton Taylor

No	401
Date of Notice	18 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Emerson	Emily Maria Millman
	💍 1914/6096
Condition	Widower 13.11.1913	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Cook
Age	40	41
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Spiritualists' Church, Christchurch
Folio	3633
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Mr. W. Norton Taylor

402

19 May 1914

Patrick Keogh
Catherine Dwyer

Patrick Keogh
Catherine Dwyer
💍 1914/6350

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Tailoress

29
22

St. Albans
Woolston

29 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

3936

19 May 1914

Rev. T. W. Price

No	402
Date of Notice	19 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Keogh	Catherine Dwyer
	💍 1914/6350
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Tailoress
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Woolston
Length of Residence	29 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	3936
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Price

403

20 May 1914

William Kenney Tulloch
Cecilia Grace Manhire

William Kenney Tulloch
Cecilia Grace Manhire
💍 1914/9390

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

23
21

Opawa
Spreydon

1 week
3 days

House of Mrs. Hone, Simeon St., Spreydon

4334

20 May 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	403
Date of Notice	20 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Kenney Tulloch	Cecilia Grace Manhire
	💍 1914/9390
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Spreydon
Length of Residence	1 week	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Hone, Simeon St., Spreydon
Folio	4334
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

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).