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 2070

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 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

674

19 December 1918

Henry Thomas Purchas
Adele Hodgson

Henry Thomas Purchas
Adele Hodgson
💍 1919/279

Widower February 8 1916
Spinster

Minister of Religion
School Teacher

58
45

Waipara
Papanui

5 Years
37 years

St Paul's Church Papanui

4/1919

19 December 1918

Rev. W. H. Orbell, Anglican

No	674
Date of Notice	19 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Thomas Purchas	Adele Hodgson
	💍 1919/279
Condition	Widower February 8 1916	Spinster
Profession	Minister of Religion	School Teacher
Age	58	45
Dwelling Place	Waipara	Papanui
Length of Residence	5 Years	37 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church Papanui
Folio	4/1919
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Orbell, Anglican

675

19 December 1918

William James McCausland
Elizabeth Mary Mercer

William James McCausland
Elizabeth Mary Mercer
💍 1918/5406

Bachelor
Spinster

Dental Mechanic

25
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
5 years

St Michael's Church Christchurch

5027

19 December 1918

Rev C. E. Perry, Anglican

No	675
Date of Notice	19 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James McCausland	Elizabeth Mary Mercer
	💍 1918/5406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dental Mechanic
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St Michael's Church Christchurch
Folio	5027
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev C. E. Perry, Anglican

676

20 December 1918

James Edmond Bisman
Hilda Frances Gee

James Edmond Bisman
Hilda Frances Gee
💍 1918/5412

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
19

Burwood
Avonside

22 years
6 years

Residence of Mrs Gee 108 River Rd Avonside

5028

Frances Mary Ann Gee Mother

20 December 1918

Rev. E. P. Blamires, Methodist

No	676
Date of Notice	20 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Edmond Bisman	Hilda Frances Gee
	💍 1918/5412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Burwood	Avonside
Length of Residence	22 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Gee 108 River Rd Avonside
Folio	5028
Consent	Frances Mary Ann Gee Mother
Date of Certificate	20 December 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. P. Blamires, Methodist

677

20 December 1918

Walter Douglas Fuller
Irene Catherine Eaton

Walter Douglas Fuller
Irene Catherine Eaton
💍 1918/5413

Bachelor
Spinster

Upholsterer

26
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
26 years

Residence of Rev H. A. Job Frederick St Linwood

5029

20 December 1918

Rev H. A. Job, Congregationalist

No	677
Date of Notice	20 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Douglas Fuller	Irene Catherine Eaton
	💍 1918/5413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Upholsterer
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev H. A. Job Frederick St Linwood
Folio	5029
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev H. A. Job, Congregationalist

678

21 December 1918

Arthur George Gardiner
Lenie Ethel Barkel

Arthur George Gardiner
Irenie Ethel Barkel
💍 1918/5414

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Factory Hand

19
19

Woolston
Linwood

13 years
6 Months

Fire Brigade Station Woolston

5030

William Shakespeare Wharton Guardian; Albert Barkel Father

21 December 1918

Rev F. Copeland, Methodist

No	678
Date of Notice	21 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur George Gardiner	Lenie Ethel Barkel
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur George Gardiner	Irenie Ethel Barkel
	💍 1918/5414
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Factory Hand
Age	19	19
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Linwood
Length of Residence	13 years	6 Months
Marriage Place	Fire Brigade Station Woolston
Folio	5030
Consent	William Shakespeare Wharton Guardian; Albert Barkel Father
Date of Certificate	21 December 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev F. Copeland, 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).