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 2104

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

24 January 1916

William Gustavas Sidley
Isabella Petherbridge

William Gustavus Gidley
Isabella Petherbridge
💍 1916/3976

Bachelor
Spinster

Seedsman

25
26

Fendalton
Glentunnel

18 years
3 weeks

Dwelling of Mr. A. Nicol, Glentunnel

1229

24 January 1916

Rev. J. Johnston. Presbyterian.

No	66
Date of Notice	24 January 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gustavas Sidley	Isabella Petherbridge
BDM Match (96%)	William Gustavus Gidley	Isabella Petherbridge
	💍 1916/3976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seedsman
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	Glentunnel
Length of Residence	18 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. A. Nicol, Glentunnel
Folio	1229
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Johnston. Presbyterian.

24 January 1916

Arthur Melville
Anne Olive Thompson

Arthur Melville
Anne Olive Thompson
💍 1916/4648

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

30
26

Merivale.
Heathcote

15 years
7 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

1929

24 January 1916

Rev. P. J. Cooney R.C.

No	67
Date of Notice	24 January 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Melville	Anne Olive Thompson
	💍 1916/4648
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Merivale.	Heathcote
Length of Residence	15 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	1929
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cooney R.C.

25 January 1916

Alexander Crago Clark
Rose Ure

Alexander Crago Clark
Rose Ure
💍 1916/4649

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Teacher

35
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch

1930

25 January 1916

Mr. R. Gebbie. Church of Christ.

No	68
Date of Notice	25 January 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Crago Clark	Rose Ure
	💍 1916/4649
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Teacher
Age	35	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	1930
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1916
Officiating Minister	Mr. R. Gebbie. Church of Christ.

25 January 1916

Harry Young Kidd.
Queen Eileen Denton

Harry Young Kidd
Queen Eileen Denton
💍 1916/4650

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Manager

32
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Presbyterian Church, Sydenham

1931

Eliza Jane Murchison, Mother

25 January 1916

Rev. C. Murray Presbyterian.

No	69
Date of Notice	25 January 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Young Kidd.	Queen Eileen Denton
BDM Match (97%)	Harry Young Kidd	Queen Eileen Denton
	💍 1916/4650
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Manager
Age	32	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Sydenham
Folio	1931
Consent	Eliza Jane Murchison, Mother
Date of Certificate	25 January 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray Presbyterian.

25 January 1916

William Ernest Bell
Minnie Wardman

William Ernest Bell
Minnie Wardman
💍 1916/10755

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter

23
29

Spreydon
Spreydon

20 years
3 years

Methodist Church, Selwyn St. Spreydon

1932

25 January 1916

Rev. W. Harris. Methodist.

No	70
Date of Notice	25 January 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ernest Bell	Minnie Wardman
	💍 1916/10755
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter
Age	23	29
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	20 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Selwyn St. Spreydon
Folio	1932
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 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).