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 2118

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

131

22 February 1916

Patrick Matthew Commons
Emily McGee

Patrick Matthew Commons
Emily McGee
💍 1916/4668

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor driver
Tailoress

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
16 years

St. Mary's Church Manchester St Christchurch

1973

22 February 1916

Rev R. J. Hoare R.C.

No	131
Date of Notice	22 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Matthew Commons	Emily McGee
	💍 1916/4668
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor driver	Tailoress
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Manchester St Christchurch
Folio	1973
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev R. J. Hoare R.C.

132

22 February 1916

Thomas Henry Bennett
Eva May Stokes

Thomas Henry Bennett
Eva May Stokes
💍 1916/4669

Bachelor
Spinster

Mutton Trader

23
23

Riccarton
Riccarton

3 months
12 years

Dwelling of Mr. T. J. Stokes Elizabeth St. Riccarton

1974

22 February 1916

Rev. C. E. Ward Methodist

No	132
Date of Notice	22 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Bennett	Eva May Stokes
	💍 1916/4669
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mutton Trader
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 months	12 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. T. J. Stokes Elizabeth St. Riccarton
Folio	1974
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward Methodist

133

22 February 1916

Henry Mathew Martin Rigby
Emily Elizabeth Fuller

Henry Mathew Martin Rigby
Emily Elizabeth Fuller
💍 1916/4701

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

28
18

Christchurch
Linwood

1 day
8 months

Dwelling of Mrs J. Fuller 50 Charles St. Linwood

1975

James Fuller Father.

22 February 1916

Rev. H. A. Job. Congregational

No	133
Date of Notice	22 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Mathew Martin Rigby	Emily Elizabeth Fuller
	💍 1916/4701
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	1 day	8 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs J. Fuller 50 Charles St. Linwood
Folio	1975
Consent	James Fuller Father.
Date of Certificate	22 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Job. Congregational

134

22 February 1916

Andrew Gordon Campbell
Minnie Dale

Andrew Gordon Campbell
Minnie Dale
💍 1916/437

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman
Cook

24
27

Christchurch
Richmond

Life
7 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

1004

22 February 1916

Registrar

No	134
Date of Notice	22 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Gordon Campbell	Minnie Dale
	💍 1916/437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman	Cook
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Richmond
Length of Residence	Life	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	1004
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

135

23 February 1916

Charles Rides
Florence Martha Margaret Baden

Charles Rides
Florence Martha Margaret Baden
💍 1916/4712

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

44
37

New Brighton
Riccarton

3 days
6 weeks

St. James Church Riccarton

1976

23 February 1916

Rev. G. W. Christian Anglican

No	135
Date of Notice	23 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Rides	Florence Martha Margaret Baden
	💍 1916/4712
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	44	37
Dwelling Place	New Brighton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	St. James Church Riccarton
Folio	1976
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Christian 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).