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 2242

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 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

739

26 October 1916

Daniel Lyons
Mary Ann Lawrence

Daniel Lyons
Mary Ann Lawrence
💍 1916/919

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

48
37

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 days
11 days

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

6986

26 October 1916

Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	739
Date of Notice	26 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Lyons	Mary Ann Lawrence
	💍 1916/919
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	48	37
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 days	11 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	6986
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

740

30 October 1916

Alfred Henry Motherwood Fanning
Ethel Mildred Frederika Adlem

Alfred Henry Netherwood Fanning
Ethel Mildred Fredricka Adlam
💍 1916/920

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

26
24

Christchurch
Fendalton

Life
8 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

6987

30 October 1916

Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	740
Date of Notice	30 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry Motherwood Fanning	Ethel Mildred Frederika Adlem
BDM Match (92%)	Alfred Henry Netherwood Fanning	Ethel Mildred Fredricka Adlam
	💍 1916/920
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Fendalton
Length of Residence	Life	8 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	6987
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

741

30 October 1916

Mark Alexander Kelly
Rose Ellen McConaghey

Mark Alexander Kelly
Rose Ellen McConaghey
💍 1916/921

Bachelor
Spinster

Teamster (Soldier)

32
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

6988

Joseph McConaghey, Father

30 October 1916

Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	741
Date of Notice	30 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mark Alexander Kelly	Rose Ellen McConaghey
	💍 1916/921
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teamster (Soldier)
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	6988
Consent	Joseph McConaghey, Father
Date of Certificate	30 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

742

31 October 1916

Alister Neil McKie
Ethel Ivy Buller

Alister Neil McKie
Ethel Ivy Buller
💍 1916/922

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Manager

24
24

Southbridge
Christchurch

10 weeks
Life

St. Andrews Church Christchurch

6989

31 October 1916

Rev. N. McCallum, Presbyterian

No	742
Date of Notice	31 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alister Neil McKie	Ethel Ivy Buller
	💍 1916/922
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Manager
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Southbridge	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 weeks	Life
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church Christchurch
Folio	6989
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. McCallum, Presbyterian

743

31 October 1916

Reginald Hill
Ivy Williams

Reginald Hill
Ivy Williams
💍 1916/923

Bachelor
Spinster

Photographer

30
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
3 years

St. Johns Church Christchurch

6990

Richard Williams, Father

31 October 1916

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	743
Date of Notice	31 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Hill	Ivy Williams
	💍 1916/923
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Photographer
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church Christchurch
Folio	6990
Consent	Richard Williams, Father
Date of Certificate	31 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, 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).