Intentions to Marry, 1916 Rangiora to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840468, 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.

1916f contains pages 2397-3014, covering districts from Rangiora to Chatham Islands

Page 2419

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1916 Registrar Alex. Montgomery

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

Fredrich Gydenham Dale
Katherine McLaren Ross

Fredrick Sydenham Dale
Katherine McLaren Ross
💍 1916/4023

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

35
22

Washdyke
Washdyke

3 years
2 years

Registrars Office Timaru

1274

24 January 1916

Alex. Montgomery Registrar

No	11
Date of Notice	24 January 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fredrich Gydenham Dale	Katherine McLaren Ross
BDM Match (95%)	Fredrick Sydenham Dale	Katherine McLaren Ross
	💍 1916/4023
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Washdyke	Washdyke
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Timaru
Folio	1274
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1916
Officiating Minister	Alex. Montgomery Registrar

20 January 1916

Michael Gibson
Ellen Murphy

Michael Gibson
Ellen Murphy
💍 1916/4019

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable
Domestic Servant

26
26

Timaru
Timaru

24 months
22 years

Catholic Church Timaru

1270

25 January 1916

Rev. Father Ryan Catholic

No	12
Date of Notice	20 January 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Gibson	Ellen Murphy
	💍 1916/4019
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable	Domestic Servant
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	24 months	22 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Timaru
Folio	1270
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Ryan Catholic

28 January 1916

George Thorburn Keen
Winifred Hyacinthe Brooks

George Thorburn Keen
Winifred Hyacinth Brooks
💍 1916/4041

Bachelor
Spinster

Private 10th Reinforcements
Clerk

26
30

Timaru
Timaru

13 years
30 years

Congregational Manse Theodosia St Timaru

1294

28 January 1916

Rev. I. Sarginson Congregational

No	13
Date of Notice	28 January 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Thorburn Keen	Winifred Hyacinthe Brooks
BDM Match (98%)	George Thorburn Keen	Winifred Hyacinth Brooks
	💍 1916/4041
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Private 10th Reinforcements	Clerk
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	13 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Manse Theodosia St Timaru
Folio	1294
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Sarginson Congregational

29 January 1916

Thomas Brinn Carpenter
Constance Stevens

Thomas Brinn Carpenter
Constance Stevens
💍 1916/4038

Widower
Spinster

Draper
Tailoress

32
20

Timaru
Timaru

2 years
20 years

Dwellinghouse of W.D. Stevens King St Timaru

1291

William Thomas Stevens (Father)

29 January 1916

Rev. R. J. Liddell Methodist

No	14
Date of Notice	29 January 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Brinn Carpenter	Constance Stevens
	💍 1916/4038
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Tailoress
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of W.D. Stevens King St Timaru
Folio	1291
Consent	William Thomas Stevens (Father)
Date of Certificate	29 January 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Liddell Methodist

4 February 1916

George Baikie
Ruby Mildred Elizabeth Hight

George Baikie
Ruby Mildred Elizabeth Hight
💍 1916/4040

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Tailoress

31
29

Timaru
Timaru

4 years
14 years

Dwellinghouse of Albert Hight Brown St Timaru

1293

4 February 1916

Rev. I. Sarginson Congregational

No	15
Date of Notice	4 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Baikie	Ruby Mildred Elizabeth Hight
	💍 1916/4040
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Tailoress
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Albert Hight Brown St Timaru
Folio	1293
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Sarginson Congregational

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).