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 2100

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

266

8 April 1914

Charles Percival Mather
Marjorie Willett Milne

Charles Percival Mather
Marjorie Willett Milne
💍 1914/5943

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolmaster

45
23

Marton
Christchurch

27 years
6 years

St. Mary's Church Merivale

3405

8 April 1914

Rev. C. Harper

No	266
Date of Notice	8 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Percival Mather	Marjorie Willett Milne
	💍 1914/5943
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster
Age	45	23
Dwelling Place	Marton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	27 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Merivale
Folio	3405
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Harper

267

8 April 1914

Stanley Darrell
Aldine Emma Lanyon

Stanley Darrell
Aldine Emma Lanyon
💍 1914/5941

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller

27
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3426

8 April 1914

Registrar

No	267
Date of Notice	8 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Darrell	Aldine Emma Lanyon
	💍 1914/5941
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3426
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

268

8 April 1914

Thomas Henry Tankard
Elizabeth Barr Watson

Thomas Henry Tankard
Elizabeth Barr Watson
💍 1914/6127

Bachelor
Spinster

Musician
Tailoress

32
31

Christchurch
Linwood

16 years
3 years

St. Luke's Church Christchurch

3564

8 April 1914

Rev. F. N. Taylor

No	268
Date of Notice	8 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Tankard	Elizabeth Barr Watson
	💍 1914/6127
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Musician	Tailoress
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	16 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church Christchurch
Folio	3564
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. N. Taylor

269

8 April 1914

Leo Alexander Kelly
Elizabeth Bailey McCormack

Leo Alexander Kelly
Elizabeth Bailey McCormack
💍 1914/6338

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
15 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

3923

8 April 1914

Rev. T. W. Price

No	269
Date of Notice	8 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leo Alexander Kelly	Elizabeth Bailey McCormack
	💍 1914/6338
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	3923
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Price

270

8 April 1914

Noel Goldsbury
Jennie Albertina Hamilton

Noel Goldsbury
Jennie Albertina Hamilton
💍 1914/825

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Clerk

19
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
22 years

St. Matthew's Church Christchurch St. Albans

4291

8 April 1914

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	270
Date of Notice	8 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Noel Goldsbury	Jennie Albertina Hamilton
	💍 1914/825
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Clerk
Age	19	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church Christchurch St. Albans
Folio	4291
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

271

8 April 1914

Charles Henry Bowers
Ruth Brown

Charles Henry Bowers
Ruth Brown
💍 1914/6137

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

19
23

Sockburn
Linwood

19 years
23 years

Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch

3573

Fanny Bowers, Mother

8 April 1914

Rev. J. J. North

No	271
Date of Notice	8 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Bowers	Ruth Brown
	💍 1914/6137
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	19	23
Dwelling Place	Sockburn	Linwood
Length of Residence	19 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch
Folio	3573
Consent	Fanny Bowers, Mother
Date of Certificate	8 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North

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).