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 2110

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

8 February 1916

William John Murch
Blanche Brown

William John Murch
Blanche Brown
💍 1916/407

Widower
Spinster

Labourer

41
45

Linwood
Christchurch

1 year
Life

Registrar's Office Christchurch

997

8 February 1916

Registrar

No	96
Date of Notice	8 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Murch	Blanche Brown
	💍 1916/407
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	41	45
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	997
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar

8 February 1916

William John Boyd
Amy Elizabeth James

William John Boyd
Amy Elizabeth James
💍 1916/4644

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
8 months

St. David's Church Sydenham

1948

8 February 1916

Rev. C. Murray Presbyterian

No	97
Date of Notice	8 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Boyd	Amy Elizabeth James
	💍 1916/4644
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	8 months
Marriage Place	St. David's Church Sydenham
Folio	1948
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray Presbyterian

9 February 1916

Henry Frederick Chittock
Mabel Agnes Greenbank

Henry Frederick Chittock
Mabel Agnes Greenbank
💍 1916/4652

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter

26
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
6 years

St Luke's Church Christchurch

1949

Harry Greenbank, Father

9 February 1916

Rev. W. H. Keay Anglican

No	98
Date of Notice	9 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Frederick Chittock	Mabel Agnes Greenbank
	💍 1916/4652
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Church Christchurch
Folio	1949
Consent	Harry Greenbank, Father
Date of Certificate	9 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Keay Anglican

10 February 1916

George Stanley Morrison
Phoebe Mary Halliburton

George Stanley Morrison
Phoebe Mary Halliburton
💍 1916/4663

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

26
24

Christchurch
St. Albans

1 day
24 years

St. Paul's Manse Latimer Square Christchurch

1950

10 February 1916

Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

No	99
Date of Notice	10 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Stanley Morrison	Phoebe Mary Halliburton
	💍 1916/4663
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	1 day	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Manse Latimer Square Christchurch
Folio	1950
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

100

10 February 1916

William James McLenaghan
Catherine Walker

William James McLenaghan
Catherine Walker
💍 1916/4670

Stanley Headifen
Catherine Walker
💍 1917/1398

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter

24
26

Spreydon
Christchurch

Life
5 years

Residence of Mrs Walker 181 Lichfield St. Christchurch

1951

10 February 1916

Rev. W. A. Sinclair Methodist

No	100
Date of Notice	10 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James McLenaghan	Catherine Walker
	💍 1916/4670
BDM Match (60%)	Stanley Headifen	Catherine Walker
	💍 1917/1398
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Walker 181 Lichfield St. Christchurch
Folio	1951
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Sinclair 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).