Intentions to Marry, 1917 Kaikoura to Rakaia

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840473, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1917 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.

1917e contains pages 1665-2196, covering districts from Kaikoura to Rakaia

Page 1691

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 March 1917 Registrar B. O. Robinson

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

2 March 1917

Reuben Henry Hodson
Mary Storey

Reuben Henry Hodson
Mary Storey
💍 1917/2091

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

27
25

Blenheim
Kaituna

27 years
25 years

Mr J. S. Storey's Residence, Kaituna

17/1206

2 March 1917

Rev. J. Richards, Presbyterian

No	11
Date of Notice	2 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reuben Henry Hodson	Mary Storey
	💍 1917/2091
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Kaituna
Length of Residence	27 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Mr J. S. Storey's Residence, Kaituna
Folio	17/1206
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Richards, Presbyterian

6 March 1917

George Henry Harrison
Mabel Patchett

George Henry Harrison
Mabel Patchett
💍 1917/2092

Widower
Spinster

Coach painter
Domestic

38
25

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
25 years

Church of England, Blenheim

17/1207

6 March 1917

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

No	12
Date of Notice	6 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Harrison	Mabel Patchett
	💍 1917/2092
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Coach painter	Domestic
Age	38	25
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Blenheim
Folio	17/1207
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

8 March 1917

Arthur Amos Vorbach
Tomasino Kate Underwood

Arthur Amos Vorbach
Tomasino Kate Underwood
💍 1917/2094

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith and Farrier
Domestic

35
29

Blenheim
Blenheim

10 years
2 months

Church of England, Renwicktown

17/1209

8 March 1917

Rev. H. B. W. White, Church of England

No	13
Date of Notice	8 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Amos Vorbach	Tomasino Kate Underwood
	💍 1917/2094
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith and Farrier	Domestic
Age	35	29
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	10 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Renwicktown
Folio	17/1209
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. W. White, Church of England

10 March 1917

Albert James Dick
Mary Catley

Albert James Dick
Mary Catley
💍 1917/2093

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

37
24

Spring Creek
Blenheim

37 years
24 years

Residence of Mrs. J. Catley, Blenheim

17/1208

10 March 1917

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	14
Date of Notice	10 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert James Dick	Mary Catley
	💍 1917/2093
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	37	24
Dwelling Place	Spring Creek	Blenheim
Length of Residence	37 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. J. Catley, Blenheim
Folio	17/1208
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

12 March 1917

James Charles Hickey
Elizabeth Georgina Taplin

James Charles Hickey
Elizabeth Georgina Taplin
💍 1917/2071

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic

18
23

Blenheim
Blenheim

18 years
5 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

17/1210

Maurice Hickey, Father

12 March 1917

Rev. J. Herring, Roman Catholic

No	15
Date of Notice	12 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Charles Hickey	Elizabeth Georgina Taplin
	💍 1917/2071
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic
Age	18	23
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	18 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	17/1210
Consent	Maurice Hickey, Father
Date of Certificate	12 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Herring, 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).