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 2058

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

9 January 1914

William Sydney Elliston
Violet Brown

William Sydney Elliston
Violet Brown
💍 1914/7985

Bachelor
Widow, November 4, 1904

Baker

33
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
4 years

Methodist Church, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch

1476

9 January 1914

Rev. B. Metson

No	19
Date of Notice	9 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Sydney Elliston	Violet Brown
	💍 1914/7985
Condition	Bachelor	Widow, November 4, 1904
Profession	Baker
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	1476
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Metson

9 January 1914

James Hart
Susan Marian Parry

James Hart
Susan Marian Parry
💍 1914/412

Bachelor
Spinster

Tinsmith

36
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
5 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

9 January 1914

Registrar

No	20
Date of Notice	9 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hart	Susan Marian Parry
	💍 1914/412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith
Age	36	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	79
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

9 January 1914

Alexander Montgomery Smith
Julia Margaret Williams

Alexander Montgomery Smith
Julia Margaret Williams
💍 1914/7572

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic

33
25

Woolston
Christchurch (just arrived from Melbourne, Australia)

5 months

House of Mr. W. Smith, 83 Bamford Street, Woolston

1478

9 January 1914

Rev. C. H. Laws

No	21
Date of Notice	9 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Montgomery Smith	Julia Margaret Williams
	💍 1914/7572
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Christchurch (just arrived from Melbourne, Australia)
Length of Residence	5 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. Smith, 83 Bamford Street, Woolston
Folio	1478
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Laws

10 January 1914

Albert Bond
Lily Amelia Punt

Albert Bond
Lily Amelia Punt
💍 1914/7986

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

30
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St Mary's Church, Merivale

1477

10 January 1914

Rev. J. Hay

No	22
Date of Notice	10 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Bond	Lily Amelia Punt
	💍 1914/7986
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Merivale
Folio	1477
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hay

10 January 1914

John Craig
Eliza Stewart Gray

John Craig
Eliza Stewart Gray
💍 1914/8306

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmoulder

24
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 months
8 months

St Andrew's Manse, Christchurch

1921

10 January 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	23
Date of Notice	10 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Craig	Eliza Stewart Gray
	💍 1914/8306
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmoulder
Age	24	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 months	8 months
Marriage Place	St Andrew's Manse, Christchurch
Folio	1921
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

10 January 1914

George William Gibbs
Nellie Elizabeth Poulsen

George William Gibbs
Nellie Elizabeth Poulsen
💍 1914/7583

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

29
22

Papanui
Papanui

5 years
22 years

St Paul's Church, Papanui

1479

10 January 1914

Rev. J. A. Julius

No	24
Date of Notice	10 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Gibbs	Nellie Elizabeth Poulsen
	💍 1914/7583
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church, Papanui
Folio	1479
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Julius

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).