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 1681

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 September 1918 Registrar W. McIntosh

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

8 July 1918

Thornston Frederick Kelling
Edith Sylvia Monro
formerly Cheesman

Thurston Frederick Relling
Edith Sylvia Monro
💍 1918/4157

Bachelor
Widow, 17 June 1916

Solicitor
Domestic duties

37
28

Blenheim
Wellington

Five years
One year

St Paul's Anglican Church, Wellington

18/3572

8 July 1918

Rev. A. W. Payne, Church of England

No	34
Date of Notice	8 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thornston Frederick Kelling	Edith Sylvia Monro formerly Cheesman
BDM Match (94%)	Thurston Frederick Relling	Edith Sylvia Monro
	💍 1918/4157
Condition	Bachelor	Widow, 17 June 1916
Profession	Solicitor	Domestic duties
Age	37	28
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Wellington
Length of Residence	Five years	One year
Marriage Place	St Paul's Anglican Church, Wellington
Folio	18/3572
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Payne, Church of England

13 July 1918

George Simpson
Eliza Woodcock
formerly Ducking

George Simpson
Eliza Woodcock
💍 1918/1592

Widower, 12 December 1910
Widow, 12 February 1917

Engine Driver
Domestic duties

36
34

Blenheim
Blenheim

10 years
3 months

Church of England Marlborough-town

18/4575

13 July 1918

Rev. W. W. Bedwell, Church of England

No	35
Date of Notice	13 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Simpson	Eliza Woodcock formerly Ducking
	💍 1918/1592
Condition	Widower, 12 December 1910	Widow, 12 February 1917
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic duties
Age	36	34
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	10 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Church of England Marlborough-town
Folio	18/4575
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. Bedwell, Church of England

15 July 1918

Robert Edward James Neal
Hazel Brochlace Washington

Robert Edward James Neal
Hazel Brochlace Washington
💍 1918/1593

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

20
18

Tua Marina
Spring Creek

20 years
5 years

Residence of Mr. Monti Neal, Spring Creek

18/4576

Frederick Neal Father, James Washington Father

15 July 1918

Rev. W. W. Bedwell, Church of England

No	36
Date of Notice	15 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Edward James Neal	Hazel Brochlace Washington
	💍 1918/1593
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Tua Marina	Spring Creek
Length of Residence	20 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Monti Neal, Spring Creek
Folio	18/4576
Consent	Frederick Neal Father, James Washington Father
Date of Certificate	15 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. Bedwell, Church of England

15 July 1918

William Thomas Niven Keir
Annie Priscilla Shaw

William Thomas Niven Keir
Annie Priscilla Shaw
💍 1918/4983

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic duties

28
27

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 years
4 years

Presbyterian Manse, Springlands

18/4577

15 July 1918

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	37
Date of Notice	15 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Niven Keir	Annie Priscilla Shaw
	💍 1918/4983
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic duties
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Springlands
Folio	18/4577
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

19 July 1918

John William Parkes
Lillian Parkinson

John William Parkes
Lillian Parkinson
💍 1918/4994

Widower, 2 August 1916
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic duties

41
38

Blenheim
Blenheim

15 years
3 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

18/4578

19 July 1918

Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

No	38
Date of Notice	19 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Parkes	Lillian Parkinson
	💍 1918/4994
Condition	Widower, 2 August 1916	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic duties
Age	41	38
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	15 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	18/4578
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

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).