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 2442

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 December 1916 Registrar Leslie G. Bruce

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

114

2 November 1916

William John Donn
Minnie Walton English

William John Donn
Minnie Walton English
💍 1916/2814

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Painter
Housekeeper

43
36

Timaru
Timaru

10 years
3 years

Residence of Rev. R. J. Liddell, Timaru

7999

2 November 1916

Rev. R. J. Liddell, Methodist

No	114
Date of Notice	2 November 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Donn	Minnie Walton English
	💍 1916/2814
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Painter	Housekeeper
Age	43	36
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. J. Liddell, Timaru
Folio	7999
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Liddell, Methodist

115

2 November 1916

Samuel Anderson
Mary Ann Wood Rutherford

Samuel Anderson
Mary Ann Wood Rutherford
💍 1916/2815

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

25
23

Timaru
Timaru

10 months
2 years

Chalmers Church, Timaru

8000

2 November 1916

Rev. A. R. Harris, Presbyterian

No	115
Date of Notice	2 November 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Anderson	Mary Ann Wood Rutherford
	💍 1916/2815
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	10 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Church, Timaru
Folio	8000
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. R. Harris, Presbyterian

116

4 November 1916

Cyril St. George Oliver
Dora Emily Winter

Cyril St George Oliver
Dora Emily Winter
💍 1916/2823

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep-farmer
Domestic Duties

22
33

Rotherham
Timaru

4 years

St. Mary's Church, Timaru

8001

4 November 1916

Rev. J. H. Rogers, Anglican

No	116
Date of Notice	4 November 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril St. George Oliver	Dora Emily Winter
BDM Match (98%)	Cyril St George Oliver	Dora Emily Winter
	💍 1916/2823
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep-farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	22	33
Dwelling Place	Rotherham	Timaru
Length of Residence		4 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Timaru
Folio	8001
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Rogers, Anglican

117

6 November 1916

Walter Henry Traves
Sarah Elizabeth Travis

Walter Henry Traves
Sarah Elizabeth Traves
💍 1916/2834

Bachelor
Widow

Traction-Engine Driver
Domestic Duties

39
45

Levels
Timaru

3 months
36 years

Residence of Mrs. J. Stephen, 10 Campbell St, Timaru

8002

6 November 1916

Rev. E. R. Harris, Presbyterian

No	117
Date of Notice	6 November 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Traves	Sarah Elizabeth Travis
BDM Match (98%)	Walter Henry Traves	Sarah Elizabeth Traves
	💍 1916/2834
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Traction-Engine Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	39	45
Dwelling Place	Levels	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 months	36 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. J. Stephen, 10 Campbell St, Timaru
Folio	8002
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Harris, Presbyterian

118

9 November 1916

John Forbes
Gwendolyn Mary Wood

John Forbes
Gwendolyn Mary Wood
💍 1916/2841

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Manager
Domestic Duties

37
26

Tokomaru Bay
Timaru

26 years

St. Mary's Church, Timaru

8003

9 November 1916

Rev. J. H. Rogers, Anglican

No	118
Date of Notice	9 November 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Forbes	Gwendolyn Mary Wood
	💍 1916/2841
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	37	26
Dwelling Place	Tokomaru Bay	Timaru
Length of Residence		26 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Timaru
Folio	8003
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Rogers, Anglican

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).