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 2051

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1917 Registrar J. Evans

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

547

10 October 1917

Edward Noonan
Lavena Payne

Edward Noonan
Lavena Payne
💍 1917/260

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
21

Islington
Sockburn

19 years
6 months

St. Mary's Church, Manchester St, Christchurch

5035

10 October 1917

Rev. C. H. Seymour, Roman Catholic

No	547
Date of Notice	10 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Noonan	Lavena Payne
	💍 1917/260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Islington	Sockburn
Length of Residence	19 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Manchester St, Christchurch
Folio	5035
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 October 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Seymour, Roman Catholic

548

11 October 1917

Claude Hileley
Eliza Kathleen Denman Ankins

Claude Hilsley
Eliza Kathleen Denman Ankins
💍 1917/261

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

29
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

5036

11 October 1917

Registrar

No	548
Date of Notice	11 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude Hileley	Eliza Kathleen Denman Ankins
BDM Match (96%)	Claude Hilsley	Eliza Kathleen Denman Ankins
	💍 1917/261
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	29	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	5036
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1917
Officiating Minister	Registrar

549

11 October 1917

Arthur Paterson
Frances Irene Stewart

Arthur Paterson
Frances Irene Stewart
💍 1917/262

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee

18
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 days
10 days

Residence of Rev. E. P. Blamires, 173 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

5037

John Paterson, Father; Frances Stewart, mother

11 October 1917

Rev. E. P. Blamires, Methodist

No	549
Date of Notice	11 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Paterson	Frances Irene Stewart
	💍 1917/262
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee
Age	18	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 days	10 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. E. P. Blamires, 173 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	5037
Consent	John Paterson, Father; Frances Stewart, mother
Date of Certificate	11 October 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. P. Blamires, Methodist

550

11 October 1917

James Richard Whitford
Alice Beattie

James Richard Whitford
Alice Beattie
💍 1917/263

Widower 15. 9. 1914
Widow 11. 6. 1912

Seaman

59
49

Addington
Addington

1 week
4 years

Residence of Rev. T. W. Vealie, Harman St. Addington

5038

11 October 1917

Rev. T. W. Vealie, Methodist

No	550
Date of Notice	11 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Richard Whitford	Alice Beattie
	💍 1917/263
Condition	Widower 15. 9. 1914	Widow 11. 6. 1912
Profession	Seaman
Age	59	49
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	1 week	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. T. W. Vealie, Harman St. Addington
Folio	5038
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Vealie, Methodist

551

13 October 1917

Leonard Walters
Elizabeth Gregory

Leonard Walters
Elizabeth Gregory
💍 1917/264

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Tailoress

33
31

Linwood
Sydenham

1 week
Life

Dwelling of Rev. W. Beckett, 4 Harper St, Sydenham

5039

13 October 1917

Rev. W. Beckett, Methodist

No	551
Date of Notice	13 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Walters	Elizabeth Gregory
	💍 1917/264
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Tailoress
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Sydenham
Length of Residence	1 week	Life
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Rev. W. Beckett, 4 Harper St, Sydenham
Folio	5039
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beckett, 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).