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 1925

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 1918 Registrar J. W. Bowden

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

23 July 1918

John Wardlaw
Hannah Elizabeth MacPherson

John Wardlaw
Hannah Elizabeth MacPherson
💍 1918/1614

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
domestic duties

45
42

Ashburton
Ashburton

6 months
17 years

at the dwelling of Mr MacPherson Kermode Street Ashburton

4648

23 July 1918

Mr J. M. Innes, Church of Christ

No	32
Date of Notice	23 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wardlaw	Hannah Elizabeth MacPherson
	💍 1918/1614
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	45	42
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	6 months	17 years
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of Mr MacPherson Kermode Street Ashburton
Folio	4648
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Mr J. M. Innes, Church of Christ

25 July 1918

Albert Bright
Violet Christina Shaw

Albert Bright
Violet Christina Shaw
💍 1918/1615

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
domestic duties

30
29

Ashburton
Ashburton

18 years
29 years

Presbyterian Manse Ashburton

4649

25 July 1918

Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

No	33
Date of Notice	25 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Bright	Violet Christina Shaw
	💍 1918/1615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	domestic duties
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	18 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse Ashburton
Folio	4649
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

29 July 1918

Francis William Chapman Haslam
Grace Helena Wakeig

Francis William Chapman Haslam
Grace Helena Makeig
💍 1918/5259

Widower
Spinster

University Professor
Teacher

65
37

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 days
15 years

St Stephens Church of England Ashburton

4677

29 July 1918

Rev. H. N. Wright, Church of England

No	34
Date of Notice	29 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis William Chapman Haslam	Grace Helena Wakeig
BDM Match (97%)	Francis William Chapman Haslam	Grace Helena Makeig
	💍 1918/5259
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	University Professor	Teacher
Age	65	37
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church of England Ashburton
Folio	4677
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. N. Wright, Church of England

31 July 1918

William Henry Joseph Sellars
Lottie May Corey

William Henry Joseph Sellars
Lottie May Corey
💍 1918/1616

Widower
Spinster

Sanitary cleaner
domestic duties

48
37

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 days
2 months

at the dwelling of George Porter 178 Victoria Street Ashburton

4650

31 July 1918

Mr James Belshaw, Methodist

No	35
Date of Notice	31 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Joseph Sellars	Lottie May Corey
	💍 1918/1616
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sanitary cleaner	domestic duties
Age	48	37
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of George Porter 178 Victoria Street Ashburton
Folio	4650
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Mr James Belshaw, Methodist

31 July 1918

Leslie Henry Tozer
Irene May Gibson

Leslie Henry Tozer
Irene May Gibson
💍 1918/1617

Bachelor
Spinster

Sergeant Major N.Z.E.F.
domestic duties

29
23

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 years
20 years

Presbyterian Church Ashburton

4651

31 July 1918

Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

No	36
Date of Notice	31 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Henry Tozer	Irene May Gibson
	💍 1918/1617
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sergeant Major N.Z.E.F.	domestic duties
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Ashburton
Folio	4651
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller, 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).