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 2116

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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

121

18 February 1916

Stephen Mangan
Mary Ellen Corboy

Stephen Mangan
Mary Ellen Corboy
💍 1916/4661

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

31
29

Riccarton
Riccarton

10 years
29 years

St. Mary's Church Manchester St Christchurch

1966

18 February 1916

Rev. R. J. Hoare R.C.

No	121
Date of Notice	18 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Mangan	Mary Ellen Corboy
	💍 1916/4661
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	10 years	29 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Manchester St Christchurch
Folio	1966
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Hoare R.C.

122

18 February 1916

George Alexander Caldwell
Margaret Hanorah Commons

George Alexander Caldwell
Margaret Hanorah Commons
💍 1916/4662

Bachelor
Spinster

Monotype Mechanic
Shop Assistant

22
23

Linwood
Linwood

Life
12 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

1967

18 February 1916

Rev. J. C. Murphy R.C.

No	122
Date of Notice	18 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alexander Caldwell	Margaret Hanorah Commons
	💍 1916/4662
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Monotype Mechanic	Shop Assistant
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	Life	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	1967
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Murphy R.C.

123

18 February 1916

Robert John Newton
Daisy May Goldbeck

Robert John Newton
Daisy May Coldbeck
💍 1916/4664

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Spinster

33
26

Spreydon
Sydenham

20 years
14 years

St. Mary's Church Addington

1968

18 February 1916

Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

No	123
Date of Notice	18 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Newton	Daisy May Goldbeck
BDM Match (97%)	Robert John Newton	Daisy May Coldbeck
	💍 1916/4664
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Spinster
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Sydenham
Length of Residence	20 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Addington
Folio	1968
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

124

18 February 1916

Hastings Garfield Ireland
Ada McLean Basher

Hastings Garfield Ireland
Ada McLean Basher
💍 1916/4665

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

33
24

Christchurch
Marshland

3 days
6 1/2 years

Presbyterian Manse, Latimer Square, Christchurch

1969

18 February 1916

Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

No	124
Date of Notice	18 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hastings Garfield Ireland	Ada McLean Basher
	💍 1916/4665
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Marshland
Length of Residence	3 days	6 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Latimer Square, Christchurch
Folio	1969
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

125

19 February 1916

Edward Walter Hammond
Catherine Malone

Edward Walter Hammond
Catherine Malone
💍 1916/418

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

28
24

Papanui
Richmond

3 days
2 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

1001

19 February 1916

Registrar

No	125
Date of Notice	19 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Walter Hammond	Catherine Malone
	💍 1916/418
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Richmond
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	1001
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).