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 2191

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

491

1 July 1916

Thomas Henry Cross
Mary Brydone Wright

Thomas Henry Cross
Mary Brydone Wright
💍 1916/7580

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver

32
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
9 years

Dwelling of Mrs Wright, 50 Leicester Street, Christchurch

5203

1 July 1916

Rev. W. R. Campbell, Presbyterian

No	491
Date of Notice	1 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Cross	Mary Brydone Wright
	💍 1916/7580
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs Wright, 50 Leicester Street, Christchurch
Folio	5203
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Campbell, Presbyterian

492

3 July 1916

Herbert David Jamieson
Annie Louise Robinson

Herbert David Jamieson
Annie Louise Robinson
💍 1916/7582

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmoulder

22
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
18 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

5204

3 July 1916

Registrar

No	492
Date of Notice	3 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert David Jamieson	Annie Louise Robinson
	💍 1916/7582
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmoulder
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	5204
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

493

3 July 1916

George William Bettle
Selina Elizabeth Taylor

George William Bettle
Selina Elizabeth Taylor
💍 1916/7553

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist's Assistant
Milliner

26
28

St. Albans
Christchurch

Life
Life

Dwelling of Mrs M. Taylor, 30 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

5199

3 July 1916

Mr. R. Gebbie, Church of Christ

No	493
Date of Notice	3 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Bettle	Selina Elizabeth Taylor
	💍 1916/7553
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist's Assistant	Milliner
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs M. Taylor, 30 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	5199
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Mr. R. Gebbie, Church of Christ

494

3 July 1916

Oswald Edgar Ransom
Ruby Lee

Oswald Edgar Ransom
Ruby Lee
💍 1916/7581

Bachelor
Spinster

Salvation Army Officer
Salvation Army Officer

27
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
18 days

Salvation Army Hall, Battersea St., Sydenham

5205

3 July 1916

Major E. G. Newby, Salvationist

No	494
Date of Notice	3 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oswald Edgar Ransom	Ruby Lee
	💍 1916/7581
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salvation Army Officer	Salvation Army Officer
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	18 days
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Hall, Battersea St., Sydenham
Folio	5205
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Major E. G. Newby, Salvationist

495

3 July 1916

William Yates
Mary Ann Jones

William Gates
Mary Ann Jones
💍 1916/7583

John William McKay
Sarah Ann Jones
💍 1916/2837

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer

33
28

Yaldhurst
Yaldhurst

4 months
3 months

Methodist Church, Brougham St., Sydenham

5206

3 July 1916

Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

No	495
Date of Notice	3 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Yates	Mary Ann Jones
BDM Match (96%)	William Gates	Mary Ann Jones
	💍 1916/7583
BDM Match (62%)	John William McKay	Sarah Ann Jones
	💍 1916/2837
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Yaldhurst	Yaldhurst
Length of Residence	4 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Brougham St., Sydenham
Folio	5206
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

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).