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 2193

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

501

5 July 1916

George Albert Howe
Ruby Emma Victoria Wilson

George Albert Howe
Ruby Emma Victoria Wilson
💍 1916/7565

Widower 4.5.1915
Spinster

Landscape Gardener

32
21

Christchurch
St. Albans

4 days
Life

Registrar's Office Christchurch

5212

5 July 1916

Registrar

No	501
Date of Notice	5 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Albert Howe	Ruby Emma Victoria Wilson
	💍 1916/7565
Condition	Widower 4.5.1915	Spinster
Profession	Landscape Gardener
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	4 days	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	5212
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

502

5 July 1916

Thomas Jarvis Robinson
Florence Emily Phipps

Thomas Sarris Robinson
Florence Emily Phipps
💍 1916/7566

Widower 5.8.1915
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Dressmaker

52
45

Sydenham
Sydenham

30 years
34 years

Methodist Church Brougham St. Sydenham

5213

5 July 1916

Rev. A. N. Scotter Methodist

No	502
Date of Notice	5 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Jarvis Robinson	Florence Emily Phipps
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Sarris Robinson	Florence Emily Phipps
	💍 1916/7566
Condition	Widower 5.8.1915	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Dressmaker
Age	52	45
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	30 years	34 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Brougham St. Sydenham
Folio	5213
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. N. Scotter Methodist

503

6 July 1916

Alfred John Bamford
Sarah Adelaide Whisker

Alfred John Bamford
Sarah Adelaide Whisker
💍 1916/7567

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller

32
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
6 months

Dwelling of Mr. F. Kidd near Canal Reserve Bromley

5214

6 July 1916

Rev. J. Paterson. Presbyterian

No	503
Date of Notice	6 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred John Bamford	Sarah Adelaide Whisker
	💍 1916/7567
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	6 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. F. Kidd near Canal Reserve Bromley
Folio	5214
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson. Presbyterian

504

7 July 1916

Albert Victor Smith
Rose Irene Griffin

Albert Victor Smith
Rose Irene Griffin
💍 1916/7568

Bachelor
Spinster

Chauffeur
Packer

25
24

Linwood
Christchurch

24 years
24 years

St Mary's Church Manchester St. Christchurch

5215

7 July 1916

Rev. R. J. Hoare R.C.

No	504
Date of Notice	7 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Victor Smith	Rose Irene Griffin
	💍 1916/7568
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chauffeur	Packer
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Manchester St. Christchurch
Folio	5215
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Hoare R.C.

505

7 July 1916

James Hunton
Christina Shierlaw

James Hunton
Christina Shierlaw
💍 1916/7569

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker

26
24

Sydenham
Richmond

Life
5 years

St. Saviour's Church Sydenham

5216

7 July 1916

Rev. H. D. Leach Anglican

No	505
Date of Notice	7 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hunton	Christina Shierlaw
	💍 1916/7569
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Richmond
Length of Residence	Life	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church Sydenham
Folio	5216
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. D. Leach 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).