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 2066

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

30 January 1914

John Murphy
Grace Agnes McGregor

John Murphy
Grace Agnes McGregor
💍 1914/7570

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Tailoress

24
26

Hornby
Christchurch

3 weeks
8 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

1633

30 January 1914

Rev. J. W. Price

No	67
Date of Notice	30 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Murphy	Grace Agnes McGregor
	💍 1914/7570
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Tailoress
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Hornby	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	8 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	1633
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Price

30 January 1914

Robert Sinclair
Vida Victoria Manhire

Robert Sinclair
Vida Victoria Manhire
💍 1914/8308

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter & Grainer

31
23

Islington
Hornby

3 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church Hornby

1923

30 January 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	68
Date of Notice	30 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Sinclair	Vida Victoria Manhire
	💍 1914/8308
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter & Grainer
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Islington	Hornby
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Hornby
Folio	1923
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

30 January 1914

Albert Harris
Julia Joyce Manson

Albert Harris
Julia Joyce Manson
💍 1914/7680

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
22

Gebbie's Flat
Gebbie's Flat

16 years
3 years

Anglican Church Gebbie's Valley

1845

30 January 1914

Rev. H. P. Purchas

No	69
Date of Notice	30 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Harris	Julia Joyce Manson
	💍 1914/7680
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Gebbie's Flat	Gebbie's Flat
Length of Residence	16 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Gebbie's Valley
Folio	1845
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. P. Purchas

2 February 1914

Ernest Leonard Mead
Rose Mary Foster

Ernest Leonard Mead
Rose Mary Foster
💍 1914/7523

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Machinist

24
25

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 weeks
18 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St Christchurch

1585

2 February 1914

Rev. J. W. Price

No	70
Date of Notice	2 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Leonard Mead	Rose Mary Foster
	💍 1914/7523
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Machinist
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 weeks	18 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St Christchurch
Folio	1585
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Price

2 February 1914

Walter James Baillie
Kate Gillooly

Walter James Baillie
Kate Gillooly
💍 1914/397

Bachelor
Spinster

Linotype operator

25
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 1/2 years
1 1/2 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

2 February 1914

Registrar

No	71
Date of Notice	2 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter James Baillie	Kate Gillooly
	💍 1914/397
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Linotype operator
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	1 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	88
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

2 February 1914

William Alfred Fraser
Emma Louise Richards

William Alfred Frazer
Emma Louise Richards
💍 1914/7994

Bachelor
Spinster

Gas Co. employee
Waitress

29
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
15 months

Methodist Church Durham St Christchurch

1501

2 February 1914

Rev. C. H. Laws

No	72
Date of Notice	2 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Fraser	Emma Louise Richards
BDM Match (98%)	William Alfred Frazer	Emma Louise Richards
	💍 1914/7994
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gas Co. employee	Waitress
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	15 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Durham St Christchurch
Folio	1501
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Laws

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).