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 2995

District of Winton Quarter ending 30 September 1916 Registrar A. Michard

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

14 August 1916

Andrew Crichton
Elsie Mary King

Andrew Crighton
Elsie Mary King
💍 1916/714

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Laborer
Domestic Duties

24
18

Springhills
Springhills

4 days
9 years

Dwellinghouse of John Patterson, Springhills

5930

John B. King, Brother

14 August 1916

Rev. C. Brierly, Presbyterian

No	12
Date of Notice	14 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Crichton	Elsie Mary King
BDM Match (97%)	Andrew Crighton	Elsie Mary King
	💍 1916/714
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Springhills	Springhills
Length of Residence	4 days	9 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of John Patterson, Springhills
Folio	5930
Consent	John B. King, Brother
Date of Certificate	14 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Brierly, Presbyterian

19 August 1916

James Robb
Margaret Thomson

James Robb
Margaret Thomson
💍 1916/3082

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
25

Lochiel
Lochiel

5 years
25 years

First Church Presbyterian Manse, Invercargill

5932

19 August 1916

Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	19 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robb	Margaret Thomson
	💍 1916/3082
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Lochiel	Lochiel
Length of Residence	5 years	25 years
Marriage Place	First Church Presbyterian Manse, Invercargill
Folio	5932
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

21 August 1916

James McKenzie
Flora Livingstone

James McKenzie
Flora Livingstone
💍 1916/715

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24
27

Seaward Downs
Forest Hill

20 years
5 years

Dwellinghouse of Mrs. Mary Livingstone, Forest Hill, Seaward Downs

5931

21 August 1916

Rev. A. K. Ross, Presbyterian

No	14
Date of Notice	21 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McKenzie	Flora Livingstone
	💍 1916/715
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Seaward Downs	Forest Hill
Length of Residence	20 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mrs. Mary Livingstone, Forest Hill, Seaward Downs
Folio	5931
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. K. Ross, Presbyterian

28 August 1916

Alfred George Taylor
Eleanor Ann Gibbs

Alfred George Taylor
Eleanor Ann Gibbs
💍 1916/717

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Manager
Domestic Duties

32
20

Springhills
Centre Bush

2 years
20 years

Dwellinghouse of Henry Gibbs, Centre Bush

5933

Henry Gibbs, father

28 August 1916

Rev. C. Webb, Anglican

No	15
Date of Notice	28 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred George Taylor	Eleanor Ann Gibbs
	💍 1916/717
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Springhills	Centre Bush
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Henry Gibbs, Centre Bush
Folio	5933
Consent	Henry Gibbs, father
Date of Certificate	28 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Webb, Anglican

28 August 1916

Harold Alfred Cooney
Mary Gordon

Harold Alfred Cooney
Mary Condon
💍 1916/718

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

21
22

Centre Bush
Centre Bush

21 years
22 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Winton

5934

28 August 1916

A. Michard, Registrar

No	16
Date of Notice	28 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Alfred Cooney	Mary Gordon
BDM Match (91%)	Harold Alfred Cooney	Mary Condon
	💍 1916/718
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Centre Bush	Centre Bush
Length of Residence	21 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Winton
Folio	5934
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1916
Officiating Minister	A. Michard, Registrar

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).