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 1950

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1916 Registrar B. Lyons

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

5 February 1916

Frederick William Townsend
Fanny Margaret Bruning

Fredrick William Townsend
Fanny Margert Bruning
💍 1916/9935

Widower
Spinster

Labourer

37
21

Nelson
Nelson

13 years
1 week

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

16/1149

5 February 1916

S. Tyson Registrar of Marriages Nelson

No	6
Date of Notice	5 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Townsend	Fanny Margaret Bruning
BDM Match (94%)	Fredrick William Townsend	Fanny Margert Bruning
	💍 1916/9935
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	37	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	13 years	1 week
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	16/1149
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1916
Officiating Minister	S. Tyson Registrar of Marriages Nelson

7 February 1916

Edward Albert Edwards
Dorothy May Mary Campbell Boulter-Mallowes

Edward Albert Edwards
Dorothy May Mary Campbell Boulter Mallowes
💍 1916/6981

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic Duties

29
21

Nelson
Nelson

29 years
2 years

All Saints' Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson

16/4486

7 February 1916

Rev. J. A. Rogers Church of England

No	7
Date of Notice	7 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Albert Edwards	Dorothy May Mary Campbell Boulter-Mallowes
BDM Match (99%)	Edward Albert Edwards	Dorothy May Mary Campbell Boulter Mallowes
	💍 1916/6981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic Duties
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	29 years	2 years
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson
Folio	16/4486
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Rogers Church of England

16 February 1916

David Archibald Victor Clive Drummond
Margaret Mary McComisky

David Archibald Victor Clive Drummond
Margaret Mary McComisky
💍 1916/3898

Bachelor
Spinster

Sapper Wireless Troop
Civil Servant

25
27

Nelson
Nelson

9 hours
3 Days

Dwelling of Katherine Hayman, Manuka Street, Nelson

16/1147

16 February 1916

Rev. H. Baumber Methodist

No	8
Date of Notice	16 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Archibald Victor Clive Drummond	Margaret Mary McComisky
	💍 1916/3898
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sapper Wireless Troop	Civil Servant
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	9 hours	3 Days
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Katherine Hayman, Manuka Street, Nelson
Folio	16/1147
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Baumber Methodist

16 February 1916

David Johnston
Monica May Smith

David Johnston
Monica May Smith
💍 1916/3894

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

23
21

Nelson
Nelson

3 Days
3 Days

St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Nelson

16/1144

16 February 1916

Rev. J. Symons Roman Catholic

No	9
Date of Notice	16 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Johnston	Monica May Smith
	💍 1916/3894
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 Days	3 Days
Marriage Place	St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Nelson
Folio	16/1144
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Symons Roman Catholic

18 February 1916

Frederick Dunkel
Louie Alberta Ethel Sarah Mary Grist

Frederick Sunkel
Louie Alberta Ethel Sarah Mary Grist
💍 1916/3897

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

28
24

Nelson
Nelson

6 Days
7 Days

Cathedral, Nelson

16/1146

18 February 1916

Rev. G. E. Weeks Church of England

No	10
Date of Notice	18 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Dunkel	Louie Alberta Ethel Sarah Mary Grist
BDM Match (97%)	Frederick Sunkel	Louie Alberta Ethel Sarah Mary Grist
	💍 1916/3897
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	6 Days	7 Days
Marriage Place	Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	16/1146
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. E. Weeks Church of England

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).