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 2142

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

250

4 April 1916

Ernest Eli Dennis
Doris Irene Manning

Ernest Eli Dennis
Doris Irene Manning
💍 1916/5741

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

29
20

Heathcote
Heathcote

6 years
13 years

Church of England Heathcote

3165

Chas Henry Manning legally apptd Guardian

4 April 1916

Rev. J. R. Wilford, Anglican

No	250
Date of Notice	4 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Eli Dennis	Doris Irene Manning
	💍 1916/5741
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Heathcote	Heathcote
Length of Residence	6 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Heathcote
Folio	3165
Consent	Chas Henry Manning legally apptd Guardian
Date of Certificate	4 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Wilford, Anglican

251

4 April 1916

William Thomas Schultz
Evelyn Esther Powell

William Thomas Schultz
Evelyn Esther Powell
💍 1916/5742

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
19 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3166

Glendower Alex Powell, Father

4 April 1916

Registrar

No	251
Date of Notice	4 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Schultz	Evelyn Esther Powell
	💍 1916/5742
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3166
Consent	Glendower Alex Powell, Father
Date of Certificate	4 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

252

4 April 1916

Selwyn Smith
May Shelton

Selwyn Smith
May Shelton
💍 1916/5743

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor's Assistant

28
19

Linwood
Christchurch

18 months
2 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3167

There is no person in N.Z. having authority by law to give consent

27 April 1916

Registrar

No	252
Date of Notice	4 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Selwyn Smith	May Shelton
	💍 1916/5743
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor's Assistant
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3167
Consent	There is no person in N.Z. having authority by law to give consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

253

4 April 1916

Percy Harry Tipler
Margaret Jean McIntosh

Percy Harry Tipler
Margaret Jean McIntosh
💍 1916/7246

Bachelor
Spinster

Carriage Painter
Housekeeper

35
25

Christchurch
St. Albans

Life
Life

Methodist Church Windsor

4834

4 April 1916

Rev. W. C. Oliver, Methodist

No	253
Date of Notice	4 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Harry Tipler	Margaret Jean McIntosh
	💍 1916/7246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carriage Painter	Housekeeper
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Windsor
Folio	4834
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. C. Oliver, Methodist

254

4 April 1916

Arthur Henry Miller
Louisa Blackmore

Arthur Henry Miller
Louisa Blackmore
💍 1916/5744

Widower 10 August 1914
Spinster

Beltmaker

40
44

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
8 years

Residence of Mr E Edwards 216 Peterborough St. Christchurch

3168

4 April 1916

Rev. W. Harris, Methodist

No	254
Date of Notice	4 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Henry Miller	Louisa Blackmore
	💍 1916/5744
Condition	Widower 10 August 1914	Spinster
Profession	Beltmaker
Age	40	44
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr E Edwards 216 Peterborough St. Christchurch
Folio	3168
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harris, 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).