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 1957

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1918

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

121

11 March 1918

Leonard Harold Brown
Ethel Alice Beattie

Leonard Harold Brown
Ethel Alice Beattie
💍 1918/341

Bachelor
Spinster

Ropemaker
Tailoress

26
27

Riccarton
Addington

9 years
6 months

St Andrew's Church Christchurch

674

11 March 1918

Rev A. T. Thompson Presbyterian

No	121
Date of Notice	11 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Harold Brown	Ethel Alice Beattie
	💍 1918/341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ropemaker	Tailoress
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Addington
Length of Residence	9 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St Andrew's Church Christchurch
Folio	674
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev A. T. Thompson Presbyterian

122

11 March 1918

Percy Major
Dorothy Emily Lamont

Percy Major
Dorothy Emily Lamont
💍 1918/342

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

20
18

Linwood
New Brighton

6 years
12 years

Residence of Rev F. Rule Richmond Terrace Christchurch

675

Sarah Maria Chaston Guardian / Thomas Lamont Father

11 March 1918

Rev F. Rule Presbyterian

No	122
Date of Notice	11 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Major	Dorothy Emily Lamont
	💍 1918/342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Linwood	New Brighton
Length of Residence	6 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev F. Rule Richmond Terrace Christchurch
Folio	675
Consent	Sarah Maria Chaston Guardian / Thomas Lamont Father
Date of Certificate	11 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev F. Rule Presbyterian

123

11 March 1918

Randolph Coates
Alice Maude Stephens

Randolph Coates
Alice Maude Stephens
💍 1918/1097

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

22
22

Avonside
Cashmere Hills

Life
10 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

676

11 March 1918

Registrar

No	123
Date of Notice	11 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Randolph Coates	Alice Maude Stephens
	💍 1918/1097
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Avonside	Cashmere Hills
Length of Residence	Life	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	676
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar

124

11 March 1918

Eugene O'Brien
Ruby Pearl Hibbard

Eugene O'Brien
Ruby Pearl Hibbard
💍 1918/1108

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

36
31

Riccarton
St Albans

15 years
13 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

677

11 March 1918

Rev J Kennedy Roman Catholic

No	124
Date of Notice	11 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eugene O'Brien	Ruby Pearl Hibbard
	💍 1918/1108
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	36	31
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	St Albans
Length of Residence	15 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	677
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev J Kennedy Roman Catholic

125

11 March 1918

Reginald Arthur McGregor
Gladys Irene Annie Archer

Reginald Arthur McGregor
Gladys Irene Annie Archer
💍 1918/1115

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Dressmaker

28
20

Woolston
Woolston

3 months
20 years

Residence of Mr D Archer 45 Maunsel Street Woolston

678

David Archer Father

11 March 1918

Rev W. Beckett Methodist

No	125
Date of Notice	11 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Arthur McGregor	Gladys Irene Annie Archer
	💍 1918/1115
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Dressmaker
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	3 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr D Archer 45 Maunsel Street Woolston
Folio	678
Consent	David Archer Father
Date of Certificate	11 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Beckett Methodist

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).