Intentions to Marry, 1916 Kaikoura to Rakaia

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840467, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1916 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1916e contains pages 1803-2396, covering districts from Kaikoura to Rakaia

Page 1833

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 June 1916 Registrar C. O. Trownson

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

31/16

18 April 1916

Norman Victor Ballinger
Doris Annie Wilkins

Norman Victor Ballinger
Doris Annie Wilkins
💍 1916/6584

Bachelor
Spinster

Lance Corporal 13th New Zealand Reinforcements
Domestic

27
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

1 day
22 years

Church of England, Blenheim

16/4069

18 April 1916

Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

No	31/16
Date of Notice	18 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Victor Ballinger	Doris Annie Wilkins
	💍 1916/6584
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lance Corporal 13th New Zealand Reinforcements	Domestic
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	1 day	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Blenheim
Folio	16/4069
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

32/16

22 April 1916

Herbert John Hardie
Edith Lilian Edmeades

Herbert John Hardie
Edith Lilian Edmeades
💍 1916/6581

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrical Engineer
Domestic

25
26

Renwicktown
Renwicktown

3 days
8 months

Presbyterian Church, Renwicktown

16/4066

22 April 1916

Rev. J. Richards, Presbyterian

No	32/16
Date of Notice	22 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert John Hardie	Edith Lilian Edmeades
	💍 1916/6581
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrical Engineer	Domestic
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	3 days	8 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Renwicktown
Folio	16/4066
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Richards, Presbyterian

33/16

26 April 1916

Stanley Edgar Burnett
Olive Elma Jane Jennens

Stanley Edgar Burnett
Olive Elma Jane Jennens
💍 1916/6582

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

21
25

Springlands
Springlands

4 days
25 years

Methodist Church, Blenheim

16/4067

26 April 1916

Rev. B. F. Rothwell, Methodist

No	33/16
Date of Notice	26 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Edgar Burnett	Olive Elma Jane Jennens
	💍 1916/6582
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	21	25
Dwelling Place	Springlands	Springlands
Length of Residence	4 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Blenheim
Folio	16/4067
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. F. Rothwell, Methodist

34/16

26 April 1916

Ernest Henry William Tapp
Cecil Margaret Shaw

Ernest Henry William Tapp
Cecil Margaret Shaw
💍 1916/6583

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

23
19

Blenheim
Blenheim

5 days
19 years

Church of England, Blenheim

16/4068

Sarah Margaret Shaw, Mother

26 April 1916

Rev. H. B. W. White, Church of England

No	34/16
Date of Notice	26 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Henry William Tapp	Cecil Margaret Shaw
	💍 1916/6583
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	5 days	19 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Blenheim
Folio	16/4068
Consent	Sarah Margaret Shaw, Mother
Date of Certificate	26 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. W. White, Church of England

35/16

2 May 1916

Gilbert Boyd
Mary Ellen Robinson

Gilbert Boyd
Mary Ellen Robinson
💍 1916/6585

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic

25
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Blenheim

16/4052

2 May 1916

Mr. R. R. Walker, Deputy Registrar

No	35/16
Date of Notice	2 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Boyd	Mary Ellen Robinson
	💍 1916/6585
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Blenheim
Folio	16/4052
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Mr. R. R. Walker, Deputy Registrar

36/16

10 May 1916

Cecil Mogridge
Mary Murray

Cecil Mogridge
Mary Murray
💍 1916/6579

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

28
18

Blenheim
Grovetown

2 years
18 years

Residence of Mr. J. A. Murray, Grovetown

16/4064

James Arthur Murray, father

10 May 1916

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	36/16
Date of Notice	10 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Mogridge	Mary Murray
	💍 1916/6579
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Grovetown
Length of Residence	2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. J. A. Murray, Grovetown
Folio	16/4064
Consent	James Arthur Murray, father
Date of Certificate	10 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

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).