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 2228

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

676

23 September 1916

William Arthur Bowlay
Mary Tasker Harris

William Arthur Bowley
Mary Tasker Harris
💍 1916/7714

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Packer

27
19

Sydenham
Sydenham

11 months
5 years

St. David's Church, Sydenham

5363

Jas. Tasker Harris, Father

23 September 1916

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	676
Date of Notice	23 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Bowlay	Mary Tasker Harris
BDM Match (98%)	William Arthur Bowley	Mary Tasker Harris
	💍 1916/7714
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Packer
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	11 months	5 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Church, Sydenham
Folio	5363
Consent	Jas. Tasker Harris, Father
Date of Certificate	23 September 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

677

26 September 1916

Leslie Gordon Philip Whyte
Emma Evelyne Rowntree

Leslie Gordon Philp Whyte
Emma Evelyne Rowntree
💍 1916/7715

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Saleswoman

26
25

St. Albans
Richmond

4 days
1 week

Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

5364

26 September 1916

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	677
Date of Notice	26 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Gordon Philip Whyte	Emma Evelyne Rowntree
BDM Match (98%)	Leslie Gordon Philp Whyte	Emma Evelyne Rowntree
	💍 1916/7715
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Saleswoman
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Richmond
Length of Residence	4 days	1 week
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	5364
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 September 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

678

26 September 1916

Arthur Edwin Fallwell
Joan Thompson Meikleham

Arthur Edwin Fallwell
Joan Thompson Meikleham
💍 1916/14107

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Engineer

32
25

Belfast
Christchurch

6 weeks
2 years

Knox Church, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch

5365

26 September 1916

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	678
Date of Notice	26 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Edwin Fallwell	Joan Thompson Meikleham
	💍 1916/14107
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Engineer
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Belfast	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 weeks	2 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	5365
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 September 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

679

26 September 1916

Frederick Edward Roud
Vena Margaret Fitzsimons

Frederick Edward Roud
Vera Margaret Fitzsimons
💍 1916/2048

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Housekeeper

27
22

Linwood
Sydenham

10 years
8 years

Methodist Church, Colombo Street, Sydenham

7118

26 September 1916

Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

No	679
Date of Notice	26 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Edward Roud	Vena Margaret Fitzsimons
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Edward Roud	Vera Margaret Fitzsimons
	💍 1916/2048
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Housekeeper
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Sydenham
Length of Residence	10 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Colombo Street, Sydenham
Folio	7118
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 September 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

680

27 September 1916

Joseph William Wiltshire
Elsie Ellen Pritchard

Joseph William Wiltshire
Elsie Ellen Pritchard
💍 1916/1430

Bachelor
Spinster

Pianoforte Tuner
Tailoress

21
21

Sydenham
Sydenham

8 years
7 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

6248

27 September 1916

Registrar

No	680
Date of Notice	27 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph William Wiltshire	Elsie Ellen Pritchard
	💍 1916/1430
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pianoforte Tuner	Tailoress
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	8 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	6248
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 September 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).