Intentions to Marry, 1918 Kaikoura to Rakaia

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840479, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1918 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.

1918e contains pages 1647-2188, covering districts from Kaikoura to Rakaia

Page 1671

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 March 1918 Registrar Wm Sibbald

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

10 January 1918

Frederick James Duffett
Gertrude Faith Brewer

Frederick James Duffett
Gertrude Faith Brewer
💍 1918/591

Bachelor
Spinster

Boat importer
School mistress

33
25

Blenheim
Blenheim

4 years
Life

Methodist Church, Blenheim

18/1278

10 January 1918

Rev. B. F. Rothwell, Methodist

No	1
Date of Notice	10 January 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick James Duffett	Gertrude Faith Brewer
	💍 1918/591
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boat importer	School mistress
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	4 years	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Blenheim
Folio	18/1278
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. F. Rothwell, Methodist

14 January 1918

Harold Walter Reed
Gwynneth Mabel Maggie Reid

Harold Walter Reed
Gwynneth Mabel Maggie Reid
💍 1918/592

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School teacher

27
20

Blenheim
Blenheim

7 days
15 years

At house of Mr. Reid, Blenheim

18/1279

R. J. Reid, Guardian

14 January 1918

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	2
Date of Notice	14 January 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Walter Reed	Gwynneth Mabel Maggie Reid
	💍 1918/592
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School teacher
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	7 days	15 years
Marriage Place	At house of Mr. Reid, Blenheim
Folio	18/1279
Consent	R. J. Reid, Guardian
Date of Certificate	14 January 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

19 January 1918

George Edward Sadd
Clara Gladys Rouse

George Edward Sadd
Clara Gladys Rouse
💍 1918/593

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Domestic Duties

50
35

Grovetown
Grovetown

50 years
2 months

At house of Mr. Cheesman, Grovetown

18/1280

19 January 1918

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	3
Date of Notice	19 January 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Sadd	Clara Gladys Rouse
	💍 1918/593
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	50	35
Dwelling Place	Grovetown	Grovetown
Length of Residence	50 years	2 months
Marriage Place	At house of Mr. Cheesman, Grovetown
Folio	18/1280
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

22 January 1918

Stephen Charles Lucas
Olive Reynolds

Stephen Charles Lucas
Olive Reynolds
💍 1918/594

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger's Assistant
Household Duties

20
17

Blenheim
Blenheim

20 years
17 years

Registrar's Office, Blenheim

18/1281

James Reynolds, Father

22 January 1918

Mr W. Sibbald, Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	22 January 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Charles Lucas	Olive Reynolds
	💍 1918/594
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger's Assistant	Household Duties
Age	20	17
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	20 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Blenheim
Folio	18/1281
Consent	James Reynolds, Father
Date of Certificate	22 January 1918
Officiating Minister	Mr W. Sibbald, Registrar

29 January 1918

George Edward Margetts
Eily Eveline Lawry

George Edward Margetts
Eily Eveline Lawry
💍 1918/595

Bachelor
Widow

Builder
Clerk

33
32

Blenheim
Blenheim

18 months
10 years

Methodist Parsonage, Tua Marina

18/1282

29 January 1918

Rev. T. R. B. Woollaxall, Methodist

No	5
Date of Notice	29 January 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Margetts	Eily Eveline Lawry
	💍 1918/595
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Builder	Clerk
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	18 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage, Tua Marina
Folio	18/1282
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. R. B. Woollaxall, Methodist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).