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 2182

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

451

13 June 1916

James Albert Rollinson
Alice Mary Giles

James Albert Rollinson
Alice Mary Gilkes
💍 1916/5753

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Manager

32
23

Woolston
Styx

4 days
3 weeks

St. Paul's Church Papanui

3153

13 June 1916

Rev. W. H. Orbell Anglican

No	451
Date of Notice	13 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Albert Rollinson	Alice Mary Giles
BDM Match (97%)	James Albert Rollinson	Alice Mary Gilkes
	💍 1916/5753
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Manager
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Styx
Length of Residence	4 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Papanui
Folio	3153
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Orbell Anglican

452

14 June 1916

William Henry Gabbott
Ruby Davidson

William Henry Gabbott
Ruby Davidson
💍 1916/5912

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor driver

26
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Knox Church Bealey Avenue Christchurch

3342

Mary Henderson formerly Davidson Mother

14 June 1916

Rev. R. Erwin Presbyterian

No	452
Date of Notice	14 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Gabbott	Ruby Davidson
	💍 1916/5912
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor driver
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Knox Church Bealey Avenue Christchurch
Folio	3342
Consent	Mary Henderson formerly Davidson Mother
Date of Certificate	14 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin Presbyterian

453

14 June 1916

Thomas Waite
Catherine Chappell

Thomas Waite
Catherine Chappell
💍 1916/5913

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger
Dressmaker

31
32

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 days
30 years

St. John's Church Hereford St. Christchurch

3343

14 June 1916

Rev. P. J. Cocks Anglican

No	453
Date of Notice	14 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Waite	Catherine Chappell
	💍 1916/5913
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger	Dressmaker
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 days	30 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church Hereford St. Christchurch
Folio	3343
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks Anglican

454

14 June 1916

John Henry Dawber
Ellen Ethel Madge Gilbert

John Henry Dawber
Ellen Ethel Madge Gilbert
💍 1916/5914

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
20

Harewood
Harewood

9 years
2 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3344

Robt. Gilbert Father

14 June 1916

Registrar

No	454
Date of Notice	14 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Dawber	Ellen Ethel Madge Gilbert
	💍 1916/5914
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Harewood	Harewood
Length of Residence	9 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3344
Consent	Robt. Gilbert Father
Date of Certificate	14 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

455

16 June 1916

Gordon Lewis Barclay
Emma Frances Rose

Gordan Lewis Barclay
Emma Frances Rose
💍 1916/37

Bachelor
Widow 31. 1. 1912

Railway Porter

34
50

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
4 years

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

5189

16 June 1916

Rev. O. Fitzgerald Anglican

No	455
Date of Notice	16 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Lewis Barclay	Emma Frances Rose
BDM Match (98%)	Gordan Lewis Barclay	Emma Frances Rose
	💍 1916/37
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 31. 1. 1912
Profession	Railway Porter
Age	34	50
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	4 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	5189
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald 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).