Intentions to Marry, 1917 Rangiora to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840474, 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.

1917f contains pages 2197-2786, covering districts from Rangiora to Chatham Islands

Page 2269

District of Balclutha Quarter ending 31 March 1917 Registrar Geo. Clinch

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

16 January 1917

James Clark
Jessie Duncan Christie

James Clark
Jessie Duncan Christie
💍 1917/2201

Widower
Spinster

Blacksmith
Dressmaker

64
48

Balclutha
Invercargill

33 years
14 years

St Pauls Presbyterian Manse Invercargill

1388

16 January 1917

Rev. R. C. Hunter Presbyterian

No	1
Date of Notice	16 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Clark	Jessie Duncan Christie
	💍 1917/2201
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Dressmaker
Age	64	48
Dwelling Place	Balclutha	Invercargill
Length of Residence	33 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Presbyterian Manse Invercargill
Folio	1388
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. C. Hunter Presbyterian

22 January 1917

Robert John Davey
Adelaide Elizabeth Barratt

Robert John Davey
Adelaide Elizabeth Barratt
💍 1917/2382

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

21
21

Balclutha
Balclutha

3 weeks
3 years

Registrar's Office Balclutha

1596

22 January 1917

G. E. H. Davis Deputy Registrar

No	2
Date of Notice	22 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Davey	Adelaide Elizabeth Barratt
	💍 1917/2382
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Balclutha	Balclutha
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Balclutha
Folio	1596
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1917
Officiating Minister	G. E. H. Davis Deputy Registrar

16 February 1917

Allan Harold Kirwood
Isabell May McFeeters

Allan Harold Kirwood
Isabelle May McFeeters
💍 1917/2192

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman
Domestic duties

25
19

Balclutha
Balclutha

1 year
19 years

Residence of Henry McFeeters Balclutha

1331

Henry McFeeters

16 February 1917

Rev. B. J. James Methodist

No	3
Date of Notice	16 February 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Harold Kirwood	Isabell May McFeeters
BDM Match (98%)	Allan Harold Kirwood	Isabelle May McFeeters
	💍 1917/2192
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman	Domestic duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Balclutha	Balclutha
Length of Residence	1 year	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Henry McFeeters Balclutha
Folio	1331
Consent	Henry McFeeters
Date of Certificate	16 February 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. J. James Methodist

21 February 1917

John Gunn
Louisa Maria Twelvetree Sparks

John Gunn
Louisa Maria Twelvetree Spark
💍 1917/2385

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
Domestic duties

45
27

Toiro
Toiro

45 years
27 years

Presbyterian Church Balclutha

1537

21 February 1917

Rev. S. W. Currie Presbyterian

No	4
Date of Notice	21 February 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gunn	Louisa Maria Twelvetree Sparks
BDM Match (98%)	John Gunn	Louisa Maria Twelvetree Spark
	💍 1917/2385
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	Domestic duties
Age	45	27
Dwelling Place	Toiro	Toiro
Length of Residence	45 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Balclutha
Folio	1537
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. W. Currie Presbyterian

26 February 1917

George Balloch
Agnes Kelly Dixon

George Balloch
Agnes Kelly Dixon
💍 1917/2381

Widower
Spinster

Surfaceman
Domestic duties

36
28

Toiro
Balclutha

5 months
8 years

Residence of C. F. Wyndham Balclutha

1595

26 February 1917

Rev. S. W. Currie Presbyterian

No	5
Date of Notice	26 February 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Balloch	Agnes Kelly Dixon
	💍 1917/2381
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Surfaceman	Domestic duties
Age	36	28
Dwelling Place	Toiro	Balclutha
Length of Residence	5 months	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of C. F. Wyndham Balclutha
Folio	1595
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. W. Currie Presbyterian

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).