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 2175

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

416

1 June 1916

Stewart McIntyre McEwan
Agnes Robertson

Stewart McIntyre McEwan
Agnes Robertson
💍 1916/8625

Widower, March 25, 1912.
Previously married, but not heard of husband for seven years last past.

Retired Engineer
Housekeeper

58
52

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
8 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3311

1 June 1916

Registrar

No	416
Date of Notice	1 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stewart McIntyre McEwan	Agnes Robertson
	💍 1916/8625
Condition	Widower, March 25, 1912.	Previously married, but not heard of husband for seven years last past.
Profession	Retired Engineer	Housekeeper
Age	58	52
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3311
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

417

1 June 1916

Charles Stanley Wilkins
Louisa Lawrence

Charles Stanley Wilkins
Louisa Lawrence
💍 1916/8626

Bachelor
Widow. 5.3.1912.

Carrier

34
43

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
5 years

St. Paul's Manse Latimer Square Christchurch

3312

1 June 1916

Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

No	417
Date of Notice	1 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Stanley Wilkins	Louisa Lawrence
	💍 1916/8626
Condition	Bachelor	Widow. 5.3.1912.
Profession	Carrier
Age	34	43
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Manse Latimer Square Christchurch
Folio	3312
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

418

1 June 1916

Harry Switalla
Olive Jane Moore

Harry Switalla
Olive Jane Moore
💍 1916/8627

Bachelor
Widow. 15.1.1912

Carter

28
28

Christchurch
St. Albans

5 years
6 years

Knox Church Manse Bealey Avenue Christchurch

3313

1 June 1916

Rev. R. Erwin Presbyterian

No	418
Date of Notice	1 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Switalla	Olive Jane Moore
	💍 1916/8627
Condition	Bachelor	Widow. 15.1.1912
Profession	Carter
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	5 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church Manse Bealey Avenue Christchurch
Folio	3313
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin Presbyterian

419

1 June 1916

William George Barns
Alice Seabourn

William George Barns
Alice Seabourn
💍 1916/8628

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

34
30

Sydenham
Sydenham

12 years
Life

St. Paul's Manse Latimer Square Christchurch

3314

1 June 1916

Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

No	419
Date of Notice	1 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Barns	Alice Seabourn
	💍 1916/8628
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	12 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Manse Latimer Square Christchurch
Folio	3314
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

420

1 June 1916

Henry Sydney Lawrence
Isabel Edith Campbell

Henry Sydney Lawrence
Isobel Edith Campbell
💍 1916/6349

Bachelor
Widow. 8.8.1908

Auctioneer

37
35

Christchurch
Takapau

23 years
3 days

Church of England Takapau

3805

1 June 1916

Rev. H. Collier Anglican Takapau

No	420
Date of Notice	1 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Sydney Lawrence	Isabel Edith Campbell
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Sydney Lawrence	Isobel Edith Campbell
	💍 1916/6349
Condition	Bachelor	Widow. 8.8.1908
Profession	Auctioneer
Age	37	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Takapau
Length of Residence	23 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of England Takapau
Folio	3805
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Collier Anglican Takapau

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).