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 2237

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 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

714

13 October 1916

Leslie Percival Lock
Jessie Kinnear Dick

Leslie Percival Lock
Jessie Kinnear Dick
💍 1916/1845

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

23
25

Spreydon
Spreydon

3 days
6 months

Dwelling of Mr W. Dick, 33 Young St, Spreydon

6964

13 October 1916

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	714
Date of Notice	13 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Percival Lock	Jessie Kinnear Dick
	💍 1916/1845
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr W. Dick, 33 Young St, Spreydon
Folio	6964
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

715

13 October 1916

Linus Victor Constable
Gertrude Mary Deare

Linus Victor Constable
Gertrude Mary Deare
💍 1916/1846

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller
Dressmaker

21
20

Heathcote
Heathcote

1 week
3 years

St. Mary's Church, Heathcote

6965

Wm. James Deare, Father

13 October 1916

Rev. J. R. Hewland, Anglican

No	715
Date of Notice	13 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Linus Victor Constable	Gertrude Mary Deare
	💍 1916/1846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller	Dressmaker
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Heathcote	Heathcote
Length of Residence	1 week	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Heathcote
Folio	6965
Consent	Wm. James Deare, Father
Date of Certificate	13 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Hewland, Anglican

716

13 October 1916

Frederick Albert Tapson
Ethel Lizzie Hinton

Frederick Albert Tapson
Ethel Lizzie Hinton
💍 1916/1847

Bachelor
Divorced. Dec. abs. granted 22. 7. 1916 at Durban S.A.

Insurance Manager

48
46

Fendalton
Fendalton

7 years
7 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

6966

13 October 1916

Registrar

No	716
Date of Notice	13 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Albert Tapson	Ethel Lizzie Hinton
	💍 1916/1847
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced. Dec. abs. granted 22. 7. 1916 at Durban S.A.
Profession	Insurance Manager
Age	48	46
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	Fendalton
Length of Residence	7 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	6966
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

717

14 October 1916

Henry William Logan
Emily Mabel Bell

Henry William Logan
Emily Mabel Bell
💍 1916/1848

Bachelor
Spinster

Theatrical Agent
Dispenser

33
32

Sydenham
Sydenham

4 weeks
3 days

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

6967

14 October 1916

Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

No	717
Date of Notice	14 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Logan	Emily Mabel Bell
	💍 1916/1848
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Theatrical Agent	Dispenser
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	4 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	6967
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

718

16 October 1916

Robert Burns
Laura Kerr Dickie Mackay

Robert Burns
Laura Kerr Dickie McKay
💍 1916/1849

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist's Assistant
Tailoress

32
23

Fisherton
Christchurch

6 years
5 years

Residence of Mr J McKay, 244 Selwyn St, Christchurch

6968

16 October 1916

Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	718
Date of Notice	16 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Burns	Laura Kerr Dickie Mackay
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Burns	Laura Kerr Dickie McKay
	💍 1916/1849
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist's Assistant	Tailoress
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Fisherton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J McKay, 244 Selwyn St, Christchurch
Folio	6968
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson, 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).