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 2068

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

5 February 1914

Wilfrid Gibson
Olive Ruth McConnell

Wilfrid Gibson
Olive Ruth McConnell
💍 1914/7552

Bachelor
Spinster

Coal Merchant
Milliner

26
23

St. Albans
Christchurch

2 years
2 1/2 years

Methodist Church Durham St. North Christchurch

1639

5 February 1914

Rev. C. H. Laws

No	79
Date of Notice	5 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilfrid Gibson	Olive Ruth McConnell
	💍 1914/7552
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coal Merchant	Milliner
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Durham St. North Christchurch
Folio	1639
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Laws

5 February 1914

Michael Kennedy
Mary O'Leary

Michael Kennedy
Mary O'Leary
💍 1914/8012

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
4 months

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

1503

5 February 1914

Rev. M. O'Boyle

No	80
Date of Notice	5 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Kennedy	Mary O'Leary
	💍 1914/8012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	1503
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. O'Boyle

5 February 1914

John McGibbon
Abbie Jane Reynolds

John McGibbon
Elsie Jane Reynolds
💍 1914/399

Bachelor
Spinster

Tramway Motorman
Dressmaker

26
28

St. Albans
Linwood

4 1/2 years
7 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

5 February 1914

Registrar

No	81
Date of Notice	5 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McGibbon	Abbie Jane Reynolds
BDM Match (92%)	John McGibbon	Elsie Jane Reynolds
	💍 1914/399
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tramway Motorman	Dressmaker
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Linwood
Length of Residence	4 1/2 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	90
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

6 February 1914

Gilbert Robinson
Lily Boatt

Gilbert Robinson
Lily Issatt
💍 1914/8041

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman's Salesman
Typiste

29
29

Sydenham
Sydenham

5 years
2 weeks

Methodist Church Sydenham

1532

6 February 1914

Rev. A. N. Scotter

No	82
Date of Notice	6 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Robinson	Lily Boatt
BDM Match (86%)	Gilbert Robinson	Lily Issatt
	💍 1914/8041
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman's Salesman	Typiste
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	5 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Sydenham
Folio	1532
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. N. Scotter

6 February 1914

Herbert Sidney Judson
Gertrude Evelyn Scarlett

Herbert Sidney Judson
Gertrude Evelyn Scarlett
💍 1914/400

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom

21
18

Prebbleton
Prebbleton

2 weeks
2 weeks

Registrar's Office Christchurch

Joseph Scarlett, Father

6 February 1914

Registrar

No	83
Date of Notice	6 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Sidney Judson	Gertrude Evelyn Scarlett
	💍 1914/400
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	91
Consent	Joseph Scarlett, Father
Date of Certificate	6 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

6 February 1914

Harry Crowley
Johannah Waterhouse

Harry Crowley
Johannah Waterhouse
💍 1914/8340

Bachelor
Widow Sept. 8. 1909

Tailor

46
43

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
6 years

House of Rev. C. E. Ward Canon St. St. Albans

1932

6 February 1914

Rev. C. E. Ward

No	84
Date of Notice	6 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Crowley	Johannah Waterhouse
	💍 1914/8340
Condition	Bachelor	Widow Sept. 8. 1909
Profession	Tailor
Age	46	43
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. C. E. Ward Canon St. St. Albans
Folio	1932
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward

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).