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 2072

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

103

16 February 1914

Robert Ealam
Mabel Eliza Henley

Robert Ealem
Mabel Eliza Henley
💍 1914/9399

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman

29
22

Woolston
Woolston

29 years
22 years

House of Mrs. W. Henley, 22 Henley St, Woolston

4493

16 February 1914

Rev. J. Cocker

No	103
Date of Notice	16 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Ealam	Mabel Eliza Henley
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Ealem	Mabel Eliza Henley
	💍 1914/9399
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	29 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. W. Henley, 22 Henley St, Woolston
Folio	4493
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cocker

104

16 February 1914

Walter Peter Maitland Kerr
Margaret Hannah Wigzell

Walter Peter Maitland Kerr
Margaret Hannah Wigzell
💍 1914/7526

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
19

Burwood
Christchurch

9 years
19 years

Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

1588

Henry John Wigzell, Father

16 February 1914

Rev. J. J. North

No	104
Date of Notice	16 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Peter Maitland Kerr	Margaret Hannah Wigzell
	💍 1914/7526
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Burwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	1588
Consent	Henry John Wigzell, Father
Date of Certificate	16 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North

105

17 February 1914

Arthur Ronald Turnbull
Constance Margaret Harrison

Arthur Ronald Turnbull
Constance Margaret Harrison
💍 1914/8039

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
21

Fendalton
St Albans

3 days
7 years

Anglican Church, Merivale

1530

17 February 1914

Rev. H. Purchas

No	105
Date of Notice	17 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ronald Turnbull	Constance Margaret Harrison
	💍 1914/8039
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	St Albans
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Merivale
Folio	1530
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Purchas

106

17 February 1914

James Foden Lancaster
Kate Ada Collins

James Foden Lancaster
Kate Ada Collins
💍 1914/8037

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 weeks
2 weeks

House of Mr. G. Howe, 19 Jackson's Road, Fendalton

1528

17 February 1914

Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

No	106
Date of Notice	17 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Foden Lancaster	Kate Ada Collins
	💍 1914/8037
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Mr. G. Howe, 19 Jackson's Road, Fendalton
Folio	1528
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

107

17 February 1914

Julius McLachlan Stephen
Kathleen Mary Senior-Lawrence

Julius McLachlan Hogben
Kathleen Mary Senior-Lawrence
💍 1914/8008

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister and Solicitor

26
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
Life

St. Mary's Anglican Church, Merivale, Christchurch

1522

17 February 1914

Rev. C. H. Gosset

No	107
Date of Notice	17 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Julius McLachlan Stephen	Kathleen Mary Senior-Lawrence
BDM Match (90%)	Julius McLachlan Hogben	Kathleen Mary Senior-Lawrence
	💍 1914/8008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister and Solicitor
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Anglican Church, Merivale, Christchurch
Folio	1522
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Gosset

108

17 February 1914

Isaac Henry Bowen Jeffares
Winifred Alexia Ashley

Isaac Harry Bowen Jeffares
Winifred Alexia Ashley
💍 1914/8019

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk

45
34

Fendalton
New Brighton

3 days
1 1/2 years

St. Mary's Church, Addington

1526

17 February 1914

Rev. W. S. Bean

No	108
Date of Notice	17 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Henry Bowen Jeffares	Winifred Alexia Ashley
BDM Match (96%)	Isaac Harry Bowen Jeffares	Winifred Alexia Ashley
	💍 1914/8019
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk
Age	45	34
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	New Brighton
Length of Residence	3 days	1 1/2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	1526
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean

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).