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 2186

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

471

21 June 1916

Sydney Pierson
Annie Thomas

Sydney Pierson
Annie Thomas
💍 1916/6618

Bachelor
Spinster

Chauffeur Mechanic
Tailoress

26
25

Burwood
Richmond

3 days
3 years

Anglican Church Burwood

3355

21 June 1916

Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

No	471
Date of Notice	21 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Pierson	Annie Thomas
	💍 1916/6618
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chauffeur Mechanic	Tailoress
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Burwood	Richmond
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Burwood
Folio	3355
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

472

21 June 1916

Stanley White
Agnes Bruce

Stanley White
Agnes Bruce
💍 1916/6619

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Clerk

27
19

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 days
14 years

St. David's Church Sydenham Christchurch

3356

David Bruce, Father

21 June 1916

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	472
Date of Notice	21 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley White	Agnes Bruce
	💍 1916/6619
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Clerk
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 days	14 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Church Sydenham Christchurch
Folio	3356
Consent	David Bruce, Father
Date of Certificate	21 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

473

22 June 1916

Christie Lawson Rollo
Gertrude Charlotte Libas Mason

Christie Lawson Rollo
Gertrude Charlotte Lillias Mason
💍 1916/6620

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Clerk

20
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
18 years

St. Stephens Church Shirley

3357

Annie Elizabeth Rollo, Mother; Thos. Geo. Mason, Father

22 June 1916

Rev. C. E. Mutter, Anglican

No	473
Date of Notice	22 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christie Lawson Rollo	Gertrude Charlotte Libas Mason
BDM Match (95%)	Christie Lawson Rollo	Gertrude Charlotte Lillias Mason
	💍 1916/6620
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Clerk
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church Shirley
Folio	3357
Consent	Annie Elizabeth Rollo, Mother; Thos. Geo. Mason, Father
Date of Certificate	22 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Mutter, Anglican

474

22 June 1916

Frederick Rowland McSherry
Flora MacDonald McCulloch Rogers

Frederick Rowland McSherry
Flora MacDonald McCulloch Rogers
💍 1916/7543

Bachelor
Spinster

Cleaner N.Z.R.

20
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
5 years

Dwelling of Mr. R. T. W. Rogers, 73 Byron St. Sydenham

5188

There is no person in N.Z. having authority by law to give consent [for groom]; Robt. Thos. Webster Lindsay Rogers, Father [for bride]

6 July 1916

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	474
Date of Notice	22 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Rowland McSherry	Flora MacDonald McCulloch Rogers
	💍 1916/7543
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cleaner N.Z.R.
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. R. T. W. Rogers, 73 Byron St. Sydenham
Folio	5188
Consent	There is no person in N.Z. having authority by law to give consent [for groom]; Robt. Thos. Webster Lindsay Rogers, Father [for bride]
Date of Certificate	6 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

475

23 June 1916

Jack McGettrick
Mabel Wills

Jack McGettrick
Mabel Wills
💍 1916/7544

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

25
28

Spreydon
Spreydon

Life
Life

Methodist Church Selwyn St. Addington

3190

23 June 1916

Rev. T. W. Vealie, Methodist

No	475
Date of Notice	23 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jack McGettrick	Mabel Wills
	💍 1916/7544
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Selwyn St. Addington
Folio	3190
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Vealie, Methodist

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).