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 2198

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

526

19 July 1916

David James Brown
Fanny Fox

David James Brown
Fanny Fox
💍 1916/7639

Bachelor
Divorced Decree Absolute dated 3-12-1914

Labourer

25
36

Linwood
St. Albans

3 days
1 year

Registrar's Office Christchurch

5238

19 July 1916

Registrar

No	526
Date of Notice	19 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David James Brown	Fanny Fox
	💍 1916/7639
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced Decree Absolute dated 3-12-1914
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	36
Dwelling Place	Linwood	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	5238
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

527

19 July 1916

William Moore
Agnes Menzies

William Moore
Agnes Menzies
💍 1916/7813

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Shop Assistant

32
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

Dwelling of Mrs Menzies 207 Moorhouse Avenue Christchurch

5464

19 July 1916

Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	527
Date of Notice	19 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Moore	Agnes Menzies
	💍 1916/7813
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Shop Assistant
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs Menzies 207 Moorhouse Avenue Christchurch
Folio	5464
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

528

19 July 1916

George Rivis Willoughby Beauchamp
Margaret Thompson

George Rivis Willoughby Beauchamp
Margaret Thomson
💍 1916/7640

Widower 11. 3. 1907
Widow 26. 2. 1910

Telegraph Lineman

54
44

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
3 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

5239

19 July 1916

Registrar

No	528
Date of Notice	19 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Rivis Willoughby Beauchamp	Margaret Thompson
BDM Match (97%)	George Rivis Willoughby Beauchamp	Margaret Thomson
	💍 1916/7640
Condition	Widower 11. 3. 1907	Widow 26. 2. 1910
Profession	Telegraph Lineman
Age	54	44
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	5239
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

529

20 July 1916

Arthur Edward Chapman
Jessie Margaret Ethel Reid

Arthur Edward Chapman
Jessie Margaret Ethel Reid
💍 1916/7641

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Clerk

23
22

St. Albans
St. Albans

Life
5 years

Methodist Church Rugby St. St. Albans

5240

20 July 1916

Rev. A. C. Lawry, Methodist

No	529
Date of Notice	20 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Edward Chapman	Jessie Margaret Ethel Reid
	💍 1916/7641
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Clerk
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	5 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Rugby St. St. Albans
Folio	5240
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Lawry, Methodist

530

20 July 1916

Henry Tonkin
Susan Elizabeth Walker

Henry Tonkin
Susan Elizabeth Walker
💍 1916/7642

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

25
24

Christchurch
Linwood

5 years
7 years

St. David's Manse Sydenham

5241

20 July 1916

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	530
Date of Notice	20 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Tonkin	Susan Elizabeth Walker
	💍 1916/7642
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	5 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Manse Sydenham
Folio	5241
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, 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).