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 2150

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

291

18 April 1916

Reginald Gregory Dougall
Mary Henderson

Reginald Gregory Dougall
Mary Henderson
💍 1916/5776

Bachelor
Spinster

Frenchpolisher
Dressmaker

27
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
13 years

St. David's Church Christchurch

3199

18 April 1916

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	291
Date of Notice	18 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Gregory Dougall	Mary Henderson
	💍 1916/5776
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Frenchpolisher	Dressmaker
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	13 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Church Christchurch
Folio	3199
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

292

18 April 1916

Ernest Purnell Chambers
Jessie Violet Miller

Ernest Purnell Chambers
Jessie Violet Miller
💍 1916/11609

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Dressmaker

24
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 months
10 years

Church of Christ Moorhouse Avenue Christchurch

2895

18 April 1916

Mr. R. Gebbie, Church of Christ

No	292
Date of Notice	18 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Purnell Chambers	Jessie Violet Miller
	💍 1916/11609
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ Moorhouse Avenue Christchurch
Folio	2895
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Mr. R. Gebbie, Church of Christ

293

18 April 1916

Charles Forbes Brown
Iris Myrtle Ina Vivienne Dryden

Charles Forbes Brown
Iris Myrtle Ina Vivienne Dryden
💍 1916/5784

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Costumier

25
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 day
11 years

St. Luke's Church Christchurch

3200

18 April 1916

Rev. F. N. Taylor, Anglican

No	293
Date of Notice	18 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Forbes Brown	Iris Myrtle Ina Vivienne Dryden
	💍 1916/5784
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Costumier
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 day	11 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church Christchurch
Folio	3200
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. N. Taylor, Anglican

294

18 April 1916

Jesse Smith
Clara Louisa Woodford

Jesse Smith
Clara Louisa Woodford
💍 1916/5795

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Milliner

29
21

Bromley
Christchurch

10 years
7 years

Dwelling of Mr. W. H. Smith, 45 Pages Rd, Bromley

3201

18 April 1916

Rev. C. Strand, Methodist

No	294
Date of Notice	18 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jesse Smith	Clara Louisa Woodford
	💍 1916/5795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Milliner
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Bromley	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. W. H. Smith, 45 Pages Rd, Bromley
Folio	3201
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Strand, Methodist

295

19 April 1916

Alexander Hume
Marion Agnes Hyndman

Alexander Hume
Marion Agnes Hyndman
💍 1916/5800

Widower
Spinster

Manager Stock Agency

49
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

Dwelling of Miss Hyndman, 857 Colombo St., Christchurch

3202

19 April 1916

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	295
Date of Notice	19 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Hume	Marion Agnes Hyndman
	💍 1916/5800
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Manager Stock Agency
Age	49	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Miss Hyndman, 857 Colombo St., Christchurch
Folio	3202
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).