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 1975

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

204

12 April 1918

Frank Menelaus Guy
Gladys Mona Hull

Frank Mendue Guy
Gladys Mona Hull
💍 1918/2124

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Tailoress

24
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
19 years

Residence of Mrs E. Stapleton, 57 Wilson's Road, Sydenham

1662

Margaret Chapman formerly Hull, Mother

17 April 1918

Rev W. Baumber, Methodist

No	204
Date of Notice	12 April 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Menelaus Guy	Gladys Mona Hull
BDM Match (89%)	Frank Mendue Guy	Gladys Mona Hull
	💍 1918/2124
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Tailoress
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs E. Stapleton, 57 Wilson's Road, Sydenham
Folio	1662
Consent	Margaret Chapman formerly Hull, Mother
Date of Certificate	17 April 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Baumber, Methodist

205

12 April 1918

Arthur John Bartlett
Annie Spencer

Arthur John Bartlett
Annie Spencer
💍 1918/2125

Widower, March 1, 1917
Spinster

Butcher
Clerk

35
31

Woolston
Linwood

4 years
8 years

Residence of Rev. J. Paterson, 346 Worcester Street, Christchurch

1663

12 April 1918

Rev J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	205
Date of Notice	12 April 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Bartlett	Annie Spencer
	💍 1918/2125
Condition	Widower, March 1, 1917	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Clerk
Age	35	31
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Linwood
Length of Residence	4 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. J. Paterson, 346 Worcester Street, Christchurch
Folio	1663
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Paterson, Presbyterian

206

12 April 1918

James Burrows
Rachel Adele Harris

James Burrows
Rachel Adrle Harris
💍 1918/2126

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
29

Harewood
Styx

Life
Life

St Paul's Church, Papanui

1664

12 April 1918

Rev W. H. Orbell, Anglican

No	206
Date of Notice	12 April 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Burrows	Rachel Adele Harris
BDM Match (97%)	James Burrows	Rachel Adrle Harris
	💍 1918/2126
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Harewood	Styx
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church, Papanui
Folio	1664
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev W. H. Orbell, Anglican

207

12 April 1918

Henry William Wallace Shaw
Hellen Durham

Bachelor
Divorced Decree absolute dated February 26, 1918

Soldier

34
42

St Albans
Christchurch

1 day
2 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

12 April 1918

Registrar (Not solemnized - Did not appear on date fixed for marriage)

No	207
Date of Notice	12 April 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Wallace Shaw	Hellen Durham
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced Decree absolute dated February 26, 1918
Profession	Soldier
Age	34	42
Dwelling Place	St Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 day	2 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar (Not solemnized - Did not appear on date fixed for marriage)

208

13 April 1918

Pearl Edward Garlesin
Mary Tomasine Tubman

Carl Edward Carlsen
Mary Tomasine Tubman
💍 1918/2127

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

34
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 weeks
3 weeks

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch

1665

13 April 1918

Rev J. A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

No	208
Date of Notice	13 April 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Pearl Edward Garlesin	Mary Tomasine Tubman
BDM Match (88%)	Carl Edward Carlsen	Mary Tomasine Tubman
	💍 1918/2127
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	34	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch
Folio	1665
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev J. A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

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).