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 2048

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar William Winsbury White

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

24 August 1914

William Walter Timms
Edith Mary Vessey

William Walter Timms
Edith Mary Vessey
💍 1914/2316

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

30
22

Riverside
Huntingdon

30 years
22 years

Church of England Tinwald

6041

24 August 1914

Rev. A. B. Jones

No	51
Date of Notice	24 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Walter Timms	Edith Mary Vessey
	💍 1914/2316
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Riverside	Huntingdon
Length of Residence	30 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Tinwald
Folio	6041
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Jones

24 August 1914

Walter Stanley Sheppard
Ann Eliza Mackay

Walter Stanley Sheppard
Ann Eliza Mackay
💍 1914/5235

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Teacher

26
32

Taihape
Willowby

4 years

Church of England Ashburton

9161

24 August 1914

Rev. J. R. Burgin

No	52
Date of Notice	24 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Stanley Sheppard	Ann Eliza Mackay
	💍 1914/5235
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Teacher
Age	26	32
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Willowby
Length of Residence		4 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Ashburton
Folio	9161
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Burgin

24 August 1914

Harry Archie Cosp
Margaret Ann Jane Mackie

Harry Archie Cox
Margaret Ann Jane MacKie
💍 1914/2560

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

25
23

Yeadhurst
Chertsey

3 days
3 Months

at the dwelling of Frank Redman Chertsey

6312

24 August 1914

Rev. W. J. Todd

No	53
Date of Notice	24 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Archie Cosp	Margaret Ann Jane Mackie
BDM Match (92%)	Harry Archie Cox	Margaret Ann Jane MacKie
	💍 1914/2560
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Yeadhurst	Chertsey
Length of Residence	3 days	3 Months
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of Frank Redman Chertsey
Folio	6312
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Todd

5 September 1914

Albert Edward Stevens
Clara Maud Clemens

Albert Edward Stevens
Clara Maud Clemens
💍 1914/2310

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm labourer
domestic duties

53
24

Eiffelton
Newlands

53 years
24 years

Baring Square Church Ashburton

6035

5 September 1914

Rev. W. J. Elliott

No	54
Date of Notice	5 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Stevens	Clara Maud Clemens
	💍 1914/2310
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm labourer	domestic duties
Age	53	24
Dwelling Place	Eiffelton	Newlands
Length of Residence	53 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Baring Square Church Ashburton
Folio	6035
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Elliott

9 September 1914

Hugh Woodside
Lucy Isabel Monson

Hugh Woodside
Lucy Isabel Monson
💍 1914/3118

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

34
25

Hampstead
Allenton

3 years
25 years

St Stephens Church of England Ashburton

6920

9 September 1914

Rev. J. R. Burgin

No	55
Date of Notice	9 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Woodside	Lucy Isabel Monson
	💍 1914/3118
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Hampstead	Allenton
Length of Residence	3 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church of England Ashburton
Folio	6920
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Burgin

9 September 1914

Raymond Oakley
Olive Withell

Raymond Oakley
Olive Withell
💍 1914/2313

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

21
24

Mayfield
Mayfield

14 years
9 years

Presbyterian Church Mayfield

6038

9 September 1914

Rev. Peter Wilson

No	56
Date of Notice	9 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Raymond Oakley	Olive Withell
	💍 1914/2313
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Mayfield	Mayfield
Length of Residence	14 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Mayfield
Folio	6038
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Peter Wilson

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).