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 2197

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

521

15 July 1916

Frederick Thomas Bonham
Beatrice Mary Loversidge

Frederick Thomas Bonham
Beatrice Mary Loversidge
💍 1916/7659

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic
Costumiere

26
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
6 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

5234

15 July 1916

Registrar

No	521
Date of Notice	15 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Thomas Bonham	Beatrice Mary Loversidge
	💍 1916/7659
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic	Costumiere
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	5234
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

522

15 July 1916

Reginald George Bellamy
Olive Healy

Reginald George Bellamy
Olive Healy
💍 1916/7637

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

26
22

New Brighton
Fendalton

22 years
20 years

St. Barnabas' Church Fendalton

5236

15 July 1916

Rev. T. A. Hamilton, Anglican

No	522
Date of Notice	15 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald George Bellamy	Olive Healy
	💍 1916/7637
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	New Brighton	Fendalton
Length of Residence	22 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas' Church Fendalton
Folio	5236
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Hamilton, Anglican

523

17 July 1916

Andrew Douglas Wilkie
Amelia Jane Francis

Andrew Douglas Wilkie
Amelia Jane Francis
💍 1916/7814

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

23
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
6 days

St. Andrews Church Christchurch

5465

17 July 1916

Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	523
Date of Notice	17 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Douglas Wilkie	Amelia Jane Francis
	💍 1916/7814
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	6 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church Christchurch
Folio	5465
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

524

18 July 1916

Frank William Claridge
Doris Edith Chapman

Frank William Claridge
Doris Edith Chapman
💍 1916/7815

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

25
21

Papanui
Papanui

Life
14 years

St. Andrews Church Christchurch

5466

18 July 1916

Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	524
Date of Notice	18 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank William Claridge	Doris Edith Chapman
	💍 1916/7815
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	Life	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church Christchurch
Folio	5466
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

525

18 July 1916

John Child
Ellen Gertrude Murray

John Child
Ellen Gertrude Murray
💍 1916/7638

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Machinist

21
25

Sydenham
Sydenham

2 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St. Christchurch

5237

18 July 1916

Rev. J. J. Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	525
Date of Notice	18 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Child	Ellen Gertrude Murray
	💍 1916/7638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Machinist
Age	21	25
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St. Christchurch
Folio	5237
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Murphy, Roman Catholic

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).