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 2023

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

442

17 August 1918

William Arthur Weckesser
Lucilla Barnes

William Arthur Weckesser
Lucilla Barnes
💍 1918/3928

Widower 10 September 1916
Spinster

Carpenter

34
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
2 months

Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch

3442

17 August 1918

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	442
Date of Notice	17 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Weckesser	Lucilla Barnes
	💍 1918/3928
Condition	Widower 10 September 1916	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch
Folio	3442
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

443

17 August 1918

Percival Burnard King
Gladys Louisa Bryant

Percival Burnard King
Gladys Louisa Bryant
💍 1918/3929

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastrycook

23
17

Fendalton
Waltham

7 years
10 months

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3443

Walter James Bryant Father

17 August 1918

Registrar

No	443
Date of Notice	17 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Burnard King	Gladys Louisa Bryant
	💍 1918/3929
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastrycook
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	Waltham
Length of Residence	7 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3443
Consent	Walter James Bryant Father
Date of Certificate	17 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar

444

19 August 1918

Albert Campbell
Jean Robinson

Albert Campbell
Jean Robinson
💍 1918/3271

Widower 19 August 1913
Spinster

Moulder
Tailoress

35
35

St. Albans
St. Albans

2 years
2 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3444

19 August 1918

Registrar

No	444
Date of Notice	19 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Campbell	Jean Robinson
	💍 1918/3271
Condition	Widower 19 August 1913	Spinster
Profession	Moulder	Tailoress
Age	35	35
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3444
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar

445

19 August 1918

Thomas Wilson
Minnie Kennedy

Thomas Wilson
Minnie Kennedy
💍 1918/3930

Bachelor
Widow 29 November 1916

Storeman

44
37

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months
37 years

St Mary's Church Addington

3445

19 August 1918

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	445
Date of Notice	19 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Wilson	Minnie Kennedy
	💍 1918/3930
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 29 November 1916
Profession	Storeman
Age	44	37
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	37 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Addington
Folio	3445
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

446

19 August 1918

George Edward Crooks
Marion Murray Henderson

George Edward Crooks
Marion Murray Henderson
💍 1918/3932

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Tailoress

29
20

Linwood
Linwood

1 3/4 years
20 years

Presbyterian Manse 346 Worcester Street Christchurch

3446

John Henderson Father

19 August 1918

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	446
Date of Notice	19 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Crooks	Marion Murray Henderson
	💍 1918/3932
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Tailoress
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	1 3/4 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse 346 Worcester Street Christchurch
Folio	3446
Consent	John Henderson Father
Date of Certificate	19 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, 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).