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 2234

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

699

9 October 1916

William Thomas Hobbs
Estelle Sumner Reeve

William Thomas Hobbs
Estelle Summer Reeve
💍 1916/2197

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyfarmer

28
26

New Brighton
New Brighton

8 years
10 years

Anglican Church Burwood

7912

9 October 1916

Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

No	699
Date of Notice	9 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Hobbs	Estelle Sumner Reeve
BDM Match (98%)	William Thomas Hobbs	Estelle Summer Reeve
	💍 1916/2197
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyfarmer
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	New Brighton	New Brighton
Length of Residence	8 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Burwood
Folio	7912
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

700

9 October 1916

Stanley Evered Priest
Selena Isabel Jarden

Stanley Evered Priest
Selina Isabel Jarden
💍 1916/1840

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

25
21

Ohaupo
Linwood

4 1/2 years
Life

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

6951

9 October 1916

Rev. O. Fitzgerald, Anglican

No	700
Date of Notice	9 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Evered Priest	Selena Isabel Jarden
BDM Match (98%)	Stanley Evered Priest	Selina Isabel Jarden
	💍 1916/1840
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Ohaupo	Linwood
Length of Residence	4 1/2 years	Life
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	6951
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald, Anglican

701

9 October 1916

Herbert Walter Taylor
Nettie Lillian Young

Herbert Walter Taylor
Hettie Lillian Young
💍 1916/1851

Bachelor
Spinster

Acting Enginedriver N.Z.R.

27
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Residence of Mr W. Taylor 74 Leicester St. Christchurch

6952

9 October 1916

Rev. H. A. Job, Congregational

No	701
Date of Notice	9 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Walter Taylor	Nettie Lillian Young
BDM Match (98%)	Herbert Walter Taylor	Hettie Lillian Young
	💍 1916/1851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Acting Enginedriver N.Z.R.
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr W. Taylor 74 Leicester St. Christchurch
Folio	6952
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Job, Congregational

702

9 October 1916

Charles Redward Patrick
Ethel Frances Murray

Charles Kedward Patrick
Ethel Frances Murray
💍 1916/1858

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk (Soldier)
Dental Mechanic

30
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 days
1 year

St Matthew's Church Christchurch

6953

9 October 1916

Rev. A. Hore, Anglican

No	702
Date of Notice	9 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Redward Patrick	Ethel Frances Murray
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Kedward Patrick	Ethel Frances Murray
	💍 1916/1858
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk (Soldier)	Dental Mechanic
Age	30	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 days	1 year
Marriage Place	St Matthew's Church Christchurch
Folio	6953
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Hore, Anglican

703

10 October 1916

George Stephen Lester
Amy Eldridge Watson

George Stephen Lester
Amy Eldridge Watson
💍 1916/1859

Bachelor
Spinster

Seed Cleaner

28
24

Riccarton
Christchurch

9 months
8 years

St Mary's Church Addington

6954

10 October 1916

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	703
Date of Notice	10 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Stephen Lester	Amy Eldridge Watson
	💍 1916/1859
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seed Cleaner
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 months	8 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Addington
Folio	6954
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, 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).