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 2012

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

352

2 July 1917

John James Hanna
Allison Inglis Hunter

John James Hanna
Allison Inglis Hunter
💍 1917/4187

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachpainter

25
27

Riccarton
Christchurch

Life
3 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St. Christchurch

3484

2 July 1917

Rev. A. O'Hare, Roman Catholic

No	352
Date of Notice	2 July 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Hanna	Allison Inglis Hunter
	💍 1917/4187
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachpainter
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St. Christchurch
Folio	3484
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. O'Hare, Roman Catholic

353

3 July 1917

Edwin Gray
Margaret Richardson

Edwin Gray
Margaret Richardson
💍 1917/4188

Charles Terry
Margaret Richardson
💍 1918/1543

Widower 21 June 1913
Spinster

Farmer
Musician

50
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
5 weeks

Residence of Mr. D. Richardson 188 Rolleston St. Linwood

3485

3 July 1917

Rev. H. A. Job, Congregational

No	353
Date of Notice	3 July 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Gray	Margaret Richardson
	💍 1917/4188
BDM Match (62%)	Charles Terry	Margaret Richardson
	💍 1918/1543
Condition	Widower 21 June 1913	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Musician
Age	50	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. D. Richardson 188 Rolleston St. Linwood
Folio	3485
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Job, Congregational

354

3 July 1917

Frederick Jackson
Annie Jane Burnell

Frederick Jackson
Annie Jane Currell
💍 1917/4189

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

46
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
4 days

Residence of Rev. J. Paterson 346 Worcester St Christchurch

3486

3 July 1917

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	354
Date of Notice	3 July 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Jackson	Annie Jane Burnell
BDM Match (94%)	Frederick Jackson	Annie Jane Currell
	💍 1917/4189
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	46	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. J. Paterson 346 Worcester St Christchurch
Folio	3486
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

355

3 July 1917

William John Fine
Gladys Philadelphia Pearce

William John Fine
Gladys Philadelphia Pearce
💍 1917/4190

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

27
25

Riccarton
Riccarton

14 years
8 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3487

3 July 1917

Registrar

No	355
Date of Notice	3 July 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Fine	Gladys Philadelphia Pearce
	💍 1917/4190
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	14 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3487
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1917
Officiating Minister	Registrar

356

4 July 1917

Davis Hunt
Jane Buchan Duncan

Davis Hunt
Jane Buchan Duncan
💍 1917/4191

Widower 23 June 1916
Spinster

Teacher of Music

57
55

Christchurch
Christchurch

35 years
50 years

St. Mary's Church Merivale

3488

Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

No	356
Date of Notice	4 July 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Davis Hunt	Jane Buchan Duncan
	💍 1917/4191
Condition	Widower 23 June 1916	Spinster
Profession	Teacher of Music
Age	57	55
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	35 years	50 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Merivale
Folio	3488
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt, 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).