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 1834

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 June 1916 Registrar G. O. Thomson

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

37/16

15 May 1916

Leonard Register
Clarence Glasson

Leonard Register
Clarence Glasson
💍 1916/6578

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraph Lineman
Dressmaker

21
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

6 months
4 days

Church of England, Blenheim

16/4063

15 May 1916

Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

No	37/16
Date of Notice	15 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Register	Clarence Glasson
	💍 1916/6578
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraph Lineman	Dressmaker
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	6 months	4 days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Blenheim
Folio	16/4063
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

38/16

19 May 1916

Lawrence Lewis Patrick Carmine
Alice Maud Phelan

Lawrence Lewis Patrick Carmine
Alice Maud Phelan
💍 1916/6577

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic

22
19

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 weeks
3 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

16/4062

Philip Phelan, father

19 May 1916

Rev. H. J. Herring, Roman Catholic

No	38/16
Date of Notice	19 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Lewis Patrick Carmine	Alice Maud Phelan
	💍 1916/6577
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	16/4062
Consent	Philip Phelan, father
Date of Certificate	19 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Herring, Roman Catholic

39/16

19 May 1916

Vincent Henry Dodson
Kathleen Meta Lane

Vincent Henry Dodson
Kathleen Meta Lane
💍 1916/6576

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

36
23

Spring Creek
Blenheim

36 years
23 years

Church of England, Blenheim

16/4061

19 May 1916

Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

No	39/16
Date of Notice	19 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vincent Henry Dodson	Kathleen Meta Lane
	💍 1916/6576
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	36	23
Dwelling Place	Spring Creek	Blenheim
Length of Residence	36 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Blenheim
Folio	16/4061
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

40/16

22 May 1916

Harold Sydney Watson
Eunice Caroline Jones

Harold Sydney Watson
Eunice Caroline Jones
💍 1916/6595

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder and Architect
Domestic

36
26

Renwicktown
Renwicktown

36 years
2 years

Presbyterian Church, Renwicktown

16/4057

22 May 1916

Rev. J. Richards, Presbyterian

No	40/16
Date of Notice	22 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Sydney Watson	Eunice Caroline Jones
	💍 1916/6595
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder and Architect	Domestic
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	36 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Renwicktown
Folio	16/4057
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Richards, Presbyterian

41/16

22 May 1916

John Robert Faulding
Jane Bradley

John Robert Faulding
Jane Bradley
💍 1916/6597

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

25
28

Spring Creek
Spring Creek

25 years
3 years

Church of England, Blenheim

16/4059

22 May 1916

Rev. W. Wollstein, Church of England

No	41/16
Date of Notice	22 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Robert Faulding	Jane Bradley
	💍 1916/6597
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Spring Creek	Spring Creek
Length of Residence	25 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Blenheim
Folio	16/4059
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Wollstein, Church of England

42/16

22 May 1916

Oliver Francis Watson
Isabella Margaret Costello

Oliver Francis Watson
Isabella Margaret Costello
💍 1916/6575

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
24

Blenheim
Seddon

4 days
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

16/4060

22 May 1916

Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic

No	42/16
Date of Notice	22 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oliver Francis Watson	Isabella Margaret Costello
	💍 1916/6575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Seddon
Length of Residence	4 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	16/4060
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic

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).