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 2121

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1916

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

146

25 February 1916

Stephen McDonald
Amy Eliza Garrick

Stephen McDonald
Amy Eliza Garrick
💍 1916/4724

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver

30
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
2 weeks

St. Peter's Manse Opawa Rd. Opawa

1983

25 February 1916

Rev. T. McDonald Presbyterian

No	146
Date of Notice	25 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen McDonald	Amy Eliza Garrick
	💍 1916/4724
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Manse Opawa Rd. Opawa
Folio	1983
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. McDonald Presbyterian

147

25 February 1916

James Stuart
Martha Jane Ormandy

James Stuart
Martha Jane Ormandy
💍 1916/4702

Widower 10. 1. 1915
Widow 23. 7. 1914

Clerk

34
38

Richmond
Richmond

3 months
10 years

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

1984

25 February 1916

Rev. O. Fitzgerald Anglican

No	147
Date of Notice	25 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Stuart	Martha Jane Ormandy
	💍 1916/4702
Condition	Widower 10. 1. 1915	Widow 23. 7. 1914
Profession	Clerk
Age	34	38
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Richmond
Length of Residence	3 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	1984
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald Anglican

148

28 February 1916

Webb James Tooley
Ivy Eliza Boys

Webb James Tooley
Ivy Eliza Boys
💍 1916/4703

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

22
21

St. Albans
St. Albans

1 year
18 years

St. Matthews Church St. Albans

1985

28 February 1916

Rev. A. F. Hall Anglican

No	148
Date of Notice	28 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Webb James Tooley	Ivy Eliza Boys
	💍 1916/4703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	1 year	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church St. Albans
Folio	1985
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. F. Hall Anglican

149

28 February 1916

Charles James Flutey
Gladys Helen Smith

Charles James Flutey
Gladys Helen Smith
💍 1916/4704

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver

23
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
6 weeks

Dwelling of Mr. W. J. Smith 35 North Avon Road Christchurch

1986

Wm. John Smith Father

28 February 1916

Rev. B. Metson Methodist

No	149
Date of Notice	28 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles James Flutey	Gladys Helen Smith
	💍 1916/4704
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. W. J. Smith 35 North Avon Road Christchurch
Folio	1986
Consent	Wm. John Smith Father
Date of Certificate	28 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Metson Methodist

150

28 February 1916

Peter Steven Graham Cameron
Dorothy Beatrice Willcox

Peter Steven Graham Cameron
Dorothy Beatrice Willcox
💍 1916/5723

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

28
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 month
Life

St. Luke's Church Christchurch

3145

28 February 1916

Rev. F. B. Redgrave Anglican

No	150
Date of Notice	28 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Steven Graham Cameron	Dorothy Beatrice Willcox
	💍 1916/5723
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 month	Life
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church Christchurch
Folio	3145
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. B. Redgrave Anglican

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).