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 2055

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1917 Registrar F. 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

567

23 October 1917

Harry Arnold Bonniface
Theresa Hislop

Harry Arnold Bonniface
Theresa Hislop
💍 1917/5520

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Waitress

21
20

Sydenham
Sydenham

6 days
6 years

Residence of Mrs. Hatch, 208 Hazeldean Road, Sydenham

5053

Jane Hislop, mother

23 October 1917

Mr. G. E. Moore, Church of Christ

No	567
Date of Notice	23 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Arnold Bonniface	Theresa Hislop
	💍 1917/5520
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Waitress
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	6 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Hatch, 208 Hazeldean Road, Sydenham
Folio	5053
Consent	Jane Hislop, mother
Date of Certificate	23 October 1917
Officiating Minister	Mr. G. E. Moore, Church of Christ

568

23 October 1917

Henry Maurice Robinson
Alice Violet Frew

Henry Maurice Robinson
Alice Violet Frew
💍 1917/5521

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

22
18

Marshland
St Albans

7 years
3 years

Methodist Church, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch

5054

Robert Samuel Frew, father

23 October 1917

Rev. J. Cocker, Methodist

No	568
Date of Notice	23 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Maurice Robinson	Alice Violet Frew
	💍 1917/5521
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Marshland	St Albans
Length of Residence	7 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	5054
Consent	Robert Samuel Frew, father
Date of Certificate	23 October 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cocker, Methodist

569

23 October 1917

John Henry Cronin
Effie Simpson

John Henry Cronin
Effie Simpson
💍 1917/5522

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Dressmaker

24
21

Waltham
St Albans

Life
5 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch

5055

23 October 1917

Rev. T. Hanrahan, Roman Catholic

No	569
Date of Notice	23 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Cronin	Effie Simpson
	💍 1917/5522
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Dressmaker
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Waltham	St Albans
Length of Residence	Life	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch
Folio	5055
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Hanrahan, Roman Catholic

570

24 October 1917

Arthur Richard Boenicke
Mary Elizabeth Wymer

Arthur Richard Boenicke
Mary Elizabeth Wymar
💍 1917/5523

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

49
34

Papanui
Papanui

6 months
6 months

Residence of Rev. J. H. G. Chapple, Richmond, Christchurch

5056

24 October 1917

Rev. J. H. G. Chapple, Unitarian

No	570
Date of Notice	24 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Richard Boenicke	Mary Elizabeth Wymer
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Richard Boenicke	Mary Elizabeth Wymar
	💍 1917/5523
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	49	34
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. J. H. G. Chapple, Richmond, Christchurch
Folio	5056
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. G. Chapple, Unitarian

571

24 October 1917

Edward Johnston Mather
Mary Campbell

Edward Johnston Mather
Mary Campbell
💍 1917/5524

Bachelor
Spinster

Brushmaker
Sewing Machinist

28
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months
12 years

St Mary's Church, Addington

5057

24 October 1917

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	571
Date of Notice	24 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Johnston Mather	Mary Campbell
	💍 1917/5524
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brushmaker	Sewing Machinist
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	12 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	5057
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, 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).