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 1943

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1917

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

12 January 1917

John Ernest Cook
Winifred Maggie Baxendale Calder

John Ernest Cook
Winifred Maggie Boxendale Calder
💍 1917/1453

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Dressmaker

26
22

Sydenham
Papanui

Life
Life

Dwelling of Mr. J. Calder, 75 Nursery Road, Papanui

576

12 January 1917

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	21
Date of Notice	12 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ernest Cook	Winifred Maggie Baxendale Calder
BDM Match (98%)	John Ernest Cook	Winifred Maggie Boxendale Calder
	💍 1917/1453
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Dressmaker
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Papanui
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. J. Calder, 75 Nursery Road, Papanui
Folio	576
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

13 January 1917

Frederick John Gage
Violet Grace Wood

Frederick John Gage
Violet Grace Wood
💍 1917/1464

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmoulder's Assistant

24
20

Christchurch
Marshland

6 weeks
1 month

Methodist Parsonage, Durham Street, Christchurch

577

Henry Robert Wood, Father

13 January 1917

Rev. N. Turner, Methodist

No	22
Date of Notice	13 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Gage	Violet Grace Wood
	💍 1917/1464
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmoulder's Assistant
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Marshland
Length of Residence	6 weeks	1 month
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage, Durham Street, Christchurch
Folio	577
Consent	Henry Robert Wood, Father
Date of Certificate	13 January 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. Turner, Methodist

13 January 1917

Charles Angus
Elizabeth Mary Quinn

Charles Angus
Elizabeth Mary Quinn
💍 1917/1471

Widower, June 1915
Widow, May 1903

Chief Officer H.M.A.S. "Dongarra"

47
47

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 days
3 days

St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch

578

13 January 1917

Rev. D. P. Carew, Roman Catholic

No	23
Date of Notice	13 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Angus	Elizabeth Mary Quinn
	💍 1917/1471
Condition	Widower, June 1915	Widow, May 1903
Profession	Chief Officer H.M.A.S. "Dongarra"
Age	47	47
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch
Folio	578
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. P. Carew, Roman Catholic

15 January 1917

Upton Willoughby Godfrey
Clarissa Robina Forward

Upton Willoughby Godfrey
Clarissa Robenia Forward
💍 1917/1472

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Clerk
Draper's Assistant

25
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 months
4 years

Methodist Church, Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

579

15 January 1917

Rev. A. Liversedge, Methodist

No	24
Date of Notice	15 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Upton Willoughby Godfrey	Clarissa Robina Forward
BDM Match (96%)	Upton Willoughby Godfrey	Clarissa Robenia Forward
	💍 1917/1472
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Clerk	Draper's Assistant
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	579
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Liversedge, Methodist

15 January 1917

John Thomas Dearling
Miriam Sarah Turvey

John Thomas Dearling
Miriam Sarah Turrey
💍 1917/1473

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

41
38

Spreydon
Linwood

7 years
16 months

Methodist Church, Durham Street, Christchurch

580

15 January 1917

Rev. N. Turner, Methodist

No	25
Date of Notice	15 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Dearling	Miriam Sarah Turvey
BDM Match (97%)	John Thomas Dearling	Miriam Sarah Turrey
	💍 1917/1473
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	41	38
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Linwood
Length of Residence	7 years	16 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Durham Street, Christchurch
Folio	580
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. Turner, Methodist

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).