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 2007

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

362

03 July 1918

Richard James French
Flora Burley

Richard James French
Flora Burley
💍 1918/1405

Bachelor
Spinster

Motorman
Dressmaker

25
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
3 months

St Davids Manse Sydenham

3367

03 July 1918

Rev C. Murray Presbyterian

No	362
Date of Notice	03 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard James French	Flora Burley
	💍 1918/1405
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motorman	Dressmaker
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	3 months
Marriage Place	St Davids Manse Sydenham
Folio	3367
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev C. Murray Presbyterian

363

04 July 1918

Harold Alfred Barber
Lilian Emily Woodham

Harold Alfred Dawber
Lilian Emily Woodham
💍 1918/1406

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Clerk

21
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 days
27 years

Congregational Church Linwood

3368

04 July 1918

Rev H. A. Job Congregationalist

No	363
Date of Notice	04 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Alfred Barber	Lilian Emily Woodham
BDM Match (95%)	Harold Alfred Dawber	Lilian Emily Woodham
	💍 1918/1406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Clerk
Age	21	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church Linwood
Folio	3368
Consent
Date of Certificate	04 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev H. A. Job Congregationalist

364

04 July 1918

Clarence Edward Keys
Ruby Victoria Pengelly

Clarence Edward Keys
Ruby Victoria Pengelly
💍 1918/1407

Bachelor
Spinster

Decorator
Dressmaker

21
24

St Albans
Linwood

9 years
5 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

3369

04 July 1918

Rev M. J. Fogarty Roman Catholic

No	364
Date of Notice	04 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Edward Keys	Ruby Victoria Pengelly
	💍 1918/1407
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Decorator	Dressmaker
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	St Albans	Linwood
Length of Residence	9 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	3369
Consent
Date of Certificate	04 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev M. J. Fogarty Roman Catholic

365

05 July 1918

Leslie Middleton Davies
Ethel Isabel Salway

Leslie Middleton Davies
Ethel Isabel Salway
💍 1918/1409

Widower 17 April 1916
Spinster

Salesman

28
20

Spreydon
Spreydon

1 year
6 years

St Pauls Church Christchurch

3370

Benjamin George Salway Father

05 July 1918

Rev J. Paterson Presbyterian

No	365
Date of Notice	05 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Middleton Davies	Ethel Isabel Salway
	💍 1918/1409
Condition	Widower 17 April 1916	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church Christchurch
Folio	3370
Consent	Benjamin George Salway Father
Date of Certificate	05 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Paterson Presbyterian

366

06 July 1918

Matthew Metcalfe
Jeannie Templeton

Matthew Metcalfe
Jeannie Templeton
💍 1918/1410

Widower May 11, 1911
Spinster

Miner

36
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
10 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3371

06 July 1918

Registrar

No	366
Date of Notice	06 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Metcalfe	Jeannie Templeton
	💍 1918/1410
Condition	Widower May 11, 1911	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	36	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3371
Consent
Date of Certificate	06 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).