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 2092

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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

223

30 March 1914

James C Cassie
Maude Lyall Macdonald

James Cassie
Maude Lyall Macdonald
💍 1914/592

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

54
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
3 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

259

30 March 1914

Registrar

No	223
Date of Notice	30 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James C Cassie	Maude Lyall Macdonald
BDM Match (93%)	James Cassie	Maude Lyall Macdonald
	💍 1914/592
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	54	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	259
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

224

30 March 1914

Arthur Greer
Agnes Hilda Hawkes

Arthur Freer
Agnes Hilda Hawes
💍 1914/823

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

32
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
4 years

St Matthew's Church St Albans

4289

30 March 1914

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	224
Date of Notice	30 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Greer	Agnes Hilda Hawkes
BDM Match (93%)	Arthur Freer	Agnes Hilda Hawes
	💍 1914/823
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St Matthew's Church St Albans
Folio	4289
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

225

30 March 1914

Walter Parker
Louisa Browning

Walter Parker
Louisa Browning
💍 1914/5962

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper's Assistant
Lady Help

40
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 months
18 months

Baptist Manse 271 Fitzgerald Avenue Christchurch

3522

30 March 1914

Rev. J. J. North

No	225
Date of Notice	30 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Parker	Louisa Browning
	💍 1914/5962
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper's Assistant	Lady Help
Age	40	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	18 months
Marriage Place	Baptist Manse 271 Fitzgerald Avenue Christchurch
Folio	3522
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North

226

30 March 1914

Alfred Smith
Rita Emma Farrell

Alfred Smith
Rita Emma Farrell
💍 1914/5824

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Tailoress

24
21

Papanui
Papanui

23 years
4 years

St Paul's Church Papanui

3352

30 March 1914

Rev. W. H. Orbell

No	226
Date of Notice	30 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Smith	Rita Emma Farrell
	💍 1914/5824
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Tailoress
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	23 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church Papanui
Folio	3352
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Orbell

227

30 March 1914

Allan Dixon Vogan
Myrtle Ellen Glen

Allan Dixon Vogan
Myrtle Ellen Glen
💍 1914/5940

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman

21
17

Papanui
Papanui

2 years
4 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3425

William Henry Glen, Father

30 March 1914

Registrar

No	227
Date of Notice	30 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Dixon Vogan	Myrtle Ellen Glen
	💍 1914/5940
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3425
Consent	William Henry Glen, Father
Date of Certificate	30 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

228

31 March 1914

Frederick Cecil Thomson
Gwendoline Marjorie Procter

Frederick Cecil Thomson
Gwendoline Marjorie Procter
💍 1914/5944

Bachelor
Spinster

Trainer

25
20

Riccarton
Merivale

7 months
5 years

St Mary's Church Merivale

3406

Annie Prichard formerly Proctor, mother

31 March 1914

Rev. C. H. Gosset

No	228
Date of Notice	31 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Cecil Thomson	Gwendoline Marjorie Procter
	💍 1914/5944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Trainer
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Merivale
Length of Residence	7 months	5 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Merivale
Folio	3406
Consent	Annie Prichard formerly Proctor, mother
Date of Certificate	31 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Gosset

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).