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 2074

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

115

19 February 1914

Alexander Levy
Catherine Glass Campbell

Alexander Levy
Catherine Glass Campbell
💍 1914/405

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Nurse

29
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 weeks
6 months

Registrar's Office Christchurch

19 February 1914

Registrar

No	115
Date of Notice	19 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Levy	Catherine Glass Campbell
	💍 1914/405
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Nurse
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 weeks	6 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	95
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

116

19 February 1914

Albert Frederick Coburn
Eva Florence Mary Williams

Albert Frederick Coburn
Eva Florence May Willyams
💍 1914/7528

Bachelor
Spinster

Tanner
Tailoress

31
22

Woolston
Woolston

1 1/2 years
22 years

St. Peter's Manse Ferry Rd Woolston

1590

19 February 1914

Rev. J. McDonald

No	116
Date of Notice	19 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Frederick Coburn	Eva Florence Mary Williams
BDM Match (96%)	Albert Frederick Coburn	Eva Florence May Willyams
	💍 1914/7528
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tanner	Tailoress
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Manse Ferry Rd Woolston
Folio	1590
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McDonald

117

19 February 1914

Charles Andrew Loasby
Amy Jervis Whitehead

Charles Andrew Loasby
Amy Jervois Whitehead
💍 1914/7587

Bachelor
Spinster

Woolclasser
Telephone operator

26
24

Linwood
Linwood

4 years
5 years

St. Michael's and All Angels Church Christchurch

1500

19 February 1914

Rev. C. H. Shore

No	117
Date of Notice	19 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Andrew Loasby	Amy Jervis Whitehead
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Andrew Loasby	Amy Jervois Whitehead
	💍 1914/7587
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woolclasser	Telephone operator
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's and All Angels Church Christchurch
Folio	1500
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Shore

118

20 February 1914

Edwin Alfred Cannon
Mabel Selina Hughes

Edwin Alfred Cannon
Mabel Selina Hughes
💍 1914/406

Previously married but not heard of wife for nine years
Spinster

Fishmonger

35
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Christchurch

20 February 1914

Registrar

No	118
Date of Notice	20 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Alfred Cannon	Mabel Selina Hughes
	💍 1914/406
Condition	Previously married but not heard of wife for nine years	Spinster
Profession	Fishmonger
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	96
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

119

20 February 1914

George Pilling
Elizabeth Gunn

George Pilling
Elizabeth Gunn
💍 1914/407

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

26
26

Linwood
Christchurch

2 years
3 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

20 February 1914

Registrar

No	119
Date of Notice	20 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Pilling	Elizabeth Gunn
	💍 1914/407
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	97
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

120

23 February 1914

Albert Edward Vincent
Amy Smith

Albert Edward Vincent
Amy Smith
💍 1914/7545

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

30
29

Papanui
Papanui

3 days
24 years

St. Paul's Church Papanui

1583

23 February 1914

Rev. W. Williams

No	120
Date of Notice	23 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Vincent	Amy Smith
	💍 1914/7545
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Papanui
Folio	1583
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Williams

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).