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 2056

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 January 1914

William George Truman
Mary Kathleen McGill

William George Truman
Mary Kathleen McGill
💍 1914/7978

Bachelor
Spinster

Butter Salesman
Shop Assistant

23
27

Saint Albans
Saint Albans

10 years
12 days

Knox Church, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch

1470

5 January 1914

Rev. R. Erwin

No	7
Date of Notice	5 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Truman	Mary Kathleen McGill
	💍 1914/7978
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butter Salesman	Shop Assistant
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Saint Albans	Saint Albans
Length of Residence	10 years	12 days
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	1470
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin

6 January 1914

John Robertson
Mary Ann Robertson

John Robertson
Mary Ann Robertson
💍 1914/7979

Widower January 16, 1910
Spinster

Builder

54
50

Christchurch
Christchurch

33 years
29 years

Saint Andrews Church, Christchurch

1471

6 January 1914

Rev. F. Rule

No	8
Date of Notice	6 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Robertson	Mary Ann Robertson
	💍 1914/7979
Condition	Widower January 16, 1910	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	54	50
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	33 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Saint Andrews Church, Christchurch
Folio	1471
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Rule

6 January 1914

William James Gundy
Rosina Mildred Green

William James Gundy
Rosina Mildred Green
💍 1914/8341

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmoulder

30
27

Riccarton
Opawa

10 years
5 years

House of Mrs W. J. Gundy, 44 Marlborough Street, Riccarton

1933

6 January 1914

Rev. C. E. Ward

No	9
Date of Notice	6 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Gundy	Rosina Mildred Green
	💍 1914/8341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmoulder
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Opawa
Length of Residence	10 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs W. J. Gundy, 44 Marlborough Street, Riccarton
Folio	1933
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward

6 January 1914

William Charlie Lawson
Ethel Mabel James

William Charlie Lawson
Ethel Mabel James
💍 1914/393

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
21

Christchurch
Linwood

1 year
21 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

6 January 1914

Registrar

No	10
Date of Notice	6 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charlie Lawson	Ethel Mabel James
	💍 1914/393
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	1 year	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	76
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

7 January 1914

Oscar Wilfred Breakey Anderson
Florence Ruth Vincent

Oscar Wilfred Brealsey Anderson
Florence Ruth Vincent
💍 1914/7981

Bachelor
Spinster

Public Accountant
Music Teacher

28
27

Christchurch
Opawa

6 years
Life

Saint Mark's Church, Opawa

1472

7 January 1914

Rev. H. Williams

No	11
Date of Notice	7 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oscar Wilfred Breakey Anderson	Florence Ruth Vincent
BDM Match (97%)	Oscar Wilfred Brealsey Anderson	Florence Ruth Vincent
	💍 1914/7981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Public Accountant	Music Teacher
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Opawa
Length of Residence	6 years	Life
Marriage Place	Saint Mark's Church, Opawa
Folio	1472
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

7 January 1914

Joseph Hague
Isabella Margaret Brooks

Joseph Hague
Isabella Margaret Brooks
💍 1914/404

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Tailoress

28
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
6 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

7 January 1914

Registrar

No	12
Date of Notice	7 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Hague	Isabella Margaret Brooks
	💍 1914/404
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Tailoress
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	77
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).