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 2199

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

531

20 July 1916

Neil Gordon MacCormack
Bridget Elizabeth Mary Roughan

Neil Gordon MacCormack
Bridget Elizabeth Mary Roughan
💍 1916/7643

Bachelor
Spinster

Mental Attendant
Barmaid

36
34

Sunnyside
Christchurch

6 years
11 months

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

5242

20 July 1916

Rev. J. T. Murphy R.C.

No	531
Date of Notice	20 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Neil Gordon MacCormack	Bridget Elizabeth Mary Roughan
	💍 1916/7643
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mental Attendant	Barmaid
Age	36	34
Dwelling Place	Sunnyside	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	11 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	5242
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. T. Murphy R.C.

532

22 July 1916

William John Mehrtens
Jessie Winifred Warner

William John Mehrtens
Jessie Winifred Warner
💍 1916/7644

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

31
24

Papanui
Fendalton

15 years
3 weeks

Dwelling of Mr. W. Wright Rhodes St. Fendalton

5243

22 July 1916

Rev. J. J. Bates Presbyterian

No	532
Date of Notice	22 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Mehrtens	Jessie Winifred Warner
	💍 1916/7644
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Fendalton
Length of Residence	15 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. W. Wright Rhodes St. Fendalton
Folio	5243
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Bates Presbyterian

533

22 July 1916

Peter Purton Irving
Minnie Lucy Maude Walker

Peter Purdon Irving
Minnie Lucy Maude Walker
💍 1916/7645

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Dressmaker

31
26

Sydenham
Linwood

21 years
7 years

St. David's Manse Sydenham

5244

22 July 1916

Rev. C. Murray Presbyterian

No	533
Date of Notice	22 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Purton Irving	Minnie Lucy Maude Walker
BDM Match (97%)	Peter Purdon Irving	Minnie Lucy Maude Walker
	💍 1916/7645
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Dressmaker
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Linwood
Length of Residence	21 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Manse Sydenham
Folio	5244
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray Presbyterian

534

24 July 1916

Edward Fred William Nippert
Maggie Hayes

Edward Fred William Nippert
Maggie Hayes
💍 1916/7646

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Barmaid

27
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
2 weeks

Registrar's Office Christchurch

5245

24 July 1916

Registrar

No	534
Date of Notice	24 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Fred William Nippert	Maggie Hayes
	💍 1916/7646
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Barmaid
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	5245
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

535

24 July 1916

David Fechney
Clara Gladys White

David Fechney
Clara Gladys White
💍 1916/7648

Divorced Decree absolute November 1914
Spinster

Farmer
Schoolteacher

43
25

St. Albans
St. Albans

3 days
8 days

St. Paul's Church Christchurch

5246

24 July 1916

Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

No	535
Date of Notice	24 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Fechney	Clara Gladys White
	💍 1916/7648
Condition	Divorced Decree absolute November 1914	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Schoolteacher
Age	43	25
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 days	8 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Christchurch
Folio	5246
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

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).