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 2078

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

139

2 March 1914

Samuel Rose
Emily Kathleen Barnett

James Samuel Rose
Emily Kathleen Barnett
💍 1914/7534

Bachelor
Spinster

Tiler

32
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
5 years

Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch

1595

2 March 1914

Mr. R. Gebbie

No	139
Date of Notice	2 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Rose	Emily Kathleen Barnett
BDM Match (82%)	James Samuel Rose	Emily Kathleen Barnett
	💍 1914/7534
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tiler
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	1595
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Mr. R. Gebbie

140

3 March 1914

Wallace Leonard Wilson
Clara Elizabeth Exton

Wallace Leonard Wilson
Clara Elizabeth Exton
💍 1914/7535

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
22

Sydenham
Upper Riccarton

Life
18 years

House of Mr. Exton, Main South Rd., Middle Park, Upper Riccarton

1596

3 March 1914

Rev. A. Peters

No	140
Date of Notice	3 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wallace Leonard Wilson	Clara Elizabeth Exton
	💍 1914/7535
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Upper Riccarton
Length of Residence	Life	18 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Exton, Main South Rd., Middle Park, Upper Riccarton
Folio	1596
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Peters

141

3 March 1914

Charles Wilfred Beaumont
Lillian Maude Victoria Nisbet

Charles Wilfred Beaumont
Lillian Maude Victoria Nisbet
💍 1914/7532

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Fireman

26
26

Woolston
Linwood

Life
22 years

St. Mark's Church, Opawa

1594

3 March 1914

Rev. H. Williams

No	141
Date of Notice	3 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Wilfred Beaumont	Lillian Maude Victoria Nisbet
	💍 1914/7532
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Fireman
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Linwood
Length of Residence	Life	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Opawa
Folio	1594
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

142

3 March 1914

Edward Marshall
Millicent Celeste McCormick

Edward Marshall
Millicent Celeste McCormick
💍 1914/9143

Bachelor
Spinster

Retired Farmer
Domestic Help

60
34

Spreydon
Spreydon

17 months
17 months

House of Mr. E. Marshall, Mill Rd, Spreydon

4240

3 March 1914

Rev. J. Laird

No	142
Date of Notice	3 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Marshall	Millicent Celeste McCormick
	💍 1914/9143
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Retired Farmer	Domestic Help
Age	60	34
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	17 months	17 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. E. Marshall, Mill Rd, Spreydon
Folio	4240
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Laird

143

4 March 1914

Ellis Richard Donald Joseph
Annie Cunningham Clements

Ellis Richard Donald Joseph
Annie Cunningham Clements
💍 1914/7530

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

24
23

Riccarton
Riccarton

Life
3 days

St. Peter's Church, Upper Riccarton

1592

4 March 1914

Rev. H. T. York

No	143
Date of Notice	4 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ellis Richard Donald Joseph	Annie Cunningham Clements
	💍 1914/7530
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	Life	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Upper Riccarton
Folio	1592
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. T. York

144

4 March 1914

Gerald Oliphant Morrison
Mabel Fuszard

Gerald Oliphant Morrison
Mabel Fuszard
💍 1914/8091

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer's Broker

30
32

St. Albans
St. Albans

2 months
21 years

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans

1607

4 March 1914

Rev. P. B. Haggitt

No	144
Date of Notice	4 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gerald Oliphant Morrison	Mabel Fuszard
	💍 1914/8091
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer's Broker
Age	30	32
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	2 months	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans
Folio	1607
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt

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).