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 2997

District of Winton Quarter ending 31 December 1916 Registrar A. Muirhead

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

25 October 1916

Hazlett Joseph Torrens
Elizabeth Jane Hubber

Joseph Torrens Hazlett
Elizabeth Jane Hubber
💍 1916/2907

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30 years
23 years

South Hillend
Heddon Bush

30 years
23 years

Dwellinghouse of Henry Hubber Heddon Bush

8119

25 October 1916

Rev. R. Mackie Presbyterian

No	18
Date of Notice	25 October 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hazlett Joseph Torrens	Elizabeth Jane Hubber
BDM Match (64%)	Joseph Torrens Hazlett	Elizabeth Jane Hubber
	💍 1916/2907
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	South Hillend	Heddon Bush
Length of Residence	30 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Henry Hubber Heddon Bush
Folio	8119
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie Presbyterian

9 November 1916

John Patterson
Matilda Ann Elizabeth Patterson

John Patterson
Matilda Ann Elizabeth Patterson
💍 1916/2906

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Domestic Duties

35 years
31 years

Springhills
Springhills

34 years
8 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages Winton

8118

9 November 1916

A. Muirhead Registrar

No	19
Date of Notice	9 November 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Patterson	Matilda Ann Elizabeth Patterson
	💍 1916/2906
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	35 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Springhills	Springhills
Length of Residence	34 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages Winton
Folio	8118
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1916
Officiating Minister	A. Muirhead Registrar

5 December 1916

Edwin Richard Davis
Jessie Tait

Edwin Richard Davis
Jessie Tait
💍 1916/2905

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

38 years
20 years

Winton
Winton

38 years
1 year

The English Church Vicarage Winton

8117

Robert Richard Trier Tait Father

5 December 1916

Rev. C Webb Anglican

No	20
Date of Notice	5 December 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Richard Davis	Jessie Tait
	💍 1916/2905
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	38 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	38 years	1 year
Marriage Place	The English Church Vicarage Winton
Folio	8117
Consent	Robert Richard Trier Tait Father
Date of Certificate	5 December 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C Webb Anglican

15 December 1916

William Henry James Brown
Ethel Madeleine Sinclair

William Henry James Brown
Ethel Madeleine Sinclair
💍 1916/2904

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30 years
29 years

Browns
Browns

29 years
8 years

Dwellinghouse of Robert Patterson Sinclair Browns

8116

15 December 1916

Rev. A. K Ross Presbyterian

No	21
Date of Notice	15 December 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry James Brown	Ethel Madeleine Sinclair
	💍 1916/2904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Browns	Browns
Length of Residence	29 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Robert Patterson Sinclair Browns
Folio	8116
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 December 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. K Ross Presbyterian

29 December 1916

Alfred James Brumby
Bertha Mabel Jones

Alfred James Bromby
Bertha Mabel Jones
💍 1917/1009

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Domestic Duties

27 years
20 years

Winton
Winton

6 days
20 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages Winton

159

Florence Edith Jones Mother

29 December 1916

A. Muirhead Registrar

No	22
Date of Notice	29 December 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James Brumby	Bertha Mabel Jones
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred James Bromby	Bertha Mabel Jones
	💍 1917/1009
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Domestic Duties
Age	27 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	6 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages Winton
Folio	159
Consent	Florence Edith Jones Mother
Date of Certificate	29 December 1916
Officiating Minister	A. Muirhead Registrar

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).