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 2018

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

382

20 July 1917

John Lee Hubber
Nellie Dorothy Hunter Jackson

John Lee Hubber
Nellie Dorothy Hunter Jackson
💍 1917/4213

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotel Manager
Tailoress

30
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
4 years

Residence of Mr Passmore, 80 Poulson St, Addington

3510

20 July 1917

Rev. T. W. Vealie, Methodist

No	382
Date of Notice	20 July 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lee Hubber	Nellie Dorothy Hunter Jackson
	💍 1917/4213
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Manager	Tailoress
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Passmore, 80 Poulson St, Addington
Folio	3510
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Vealie, Methodist

383

23 July 1917

William John Doyle
Elsie Agnes Hibbert

William John Doyle
Elsie Agnes Hibberd
💍 1917/4214

Widower February 28, 1909
Spinster

Farmer

47
25

Christchurch
Doyleston

3 days
9 years

St. Michaels Church, Christchurch

3511

23 July 1917

Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

No	383
Date of Notice	23 July 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Doyle	Elsie Agnes Hibbert
BDM Match (97%)	William John Doyle	Elsie Agnes Hibberd
	💍 1917/4214
Condition	Widower February 28, 1909	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	47	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Doyleston
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church, Christchurch
Folio	3511
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

384

23 July 1917

John Francis Lowrey
Lilian Helen Carmichael Sloane

John Francis Lawrey
Lilian Helen Carmichael Sloane
💍 1917/4215

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

30
30

Kirwee
Christchurch

Life
12 years

St. Andrews Church, Christchurch

3512

23 July 1917

Rev. J. A. Brown, Presbyterian

No	384
Date of Notice	23 July 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis Lowrey	Lilian Helen Carmichael Sloane
BDM Match (97%)	John Francis Lawrey	Lilian Helen Carmichael Sloane
	💍 1917/4215
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Kirwee	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Christchurch
Folio	3512
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Brown, Presbyterian

385

23 July 1917

James Samuel Mander
Ethel Constance Owens

James Samuel Mander
Ethel Constance Owens
💍 1917/4216

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi Proprietor

23
18

Christchurch
Riccarton

10 years
17 years

Residence of Mr Calder, 100 Peterborough St., Christchurch

3513

Catherine Ellen Calder, mother

23 July 1917

Rev. P. N. Knight, Methodist

No	385
Date of Notice	23 July 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Samuel Mander	Ethel Constance Owens
	💍 1917/4216
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi Proprietor
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	10 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Calder, 100 Peterborough St., Christchurch
Folio	3513
Consent	Catherine Ellen Calder, mother
Date of Certificate	23 July 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. N. Knight, Methodist

386

24 July 1917

Albert John Mason
Sarah Emma Johnston

Albert John Mason
Sarah Emma Johnston
💍 1917/4217

Divorcee See Abs decree 3.12.1910
Widow 22.11.1916

Storeman

47
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrars Office, Christchurch

3514

24 July 1917

Registrar

No	386
Date of Notice	24 July 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Mason	Sarah Emma Johnston
	💍 1917/4217
Condition	Divorcee See Abs decree 3.12.1910	Widow 22.11.1916
Profession	Storeman
Age	47	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	3514
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1917
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).