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 2016

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

407

27 July 1918

Henry James Butland McMahon
Winifred Violet Cooke

Henry James Butland McMahon
Winifred Violet Cooke
💍 1918/4242

Bachelor
Spinster

Audit Examiner
Shop Assistant

25
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
5 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Barbadoes Street Christchurch

3409

27 July 1918

Rev M. Fogarty R.C.

No	407
Date of Notice	27 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Butland McMahon	Winifred Violet Cooke
	💍 1918/4242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Audit Examiner	Shop Assistant
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Barbadoes Street Christchurch
Folio	3409
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev M. Fogarty R.C.

408

29 July 1918

Herbert Dixon Alexander
Lily Emmeline Inwood

Herbert Dixon Alexander
Lily Emmeline Inwood
💍 1918/4219

Widower March 27, 1915
Spinster

Waiter

28
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
2 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3410

29 July 1918

Registrar

No	408
Date of Notice	29 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Dixon Alexander	Lily Emmeline Inwood
	💍 1918/4219
Condition	Widower March 27, 1915	Spinster
Profession	Waiter
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3410
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar

409

29 July 1918

Joseph William Rowe
Margaret Kent

Joseph William Rowe
Margaret Kent
💍 1918/4220

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
23

Templeton
Templeton

4 days
10 years

Methodist Church Templeton

3411

29 July 1918

Rev Harris Methodist

No	409
Date of Notice	29 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph William Rowe	Margaret Kent
	💍 1918/4220
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Templeton	Templeton
Length of Residence	4 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Templeton
Folio	3411
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev Harris Methodist

410

29 July 1918

Reginald Bernard Hill
Ida Barbara Moran

Reginald Bernard Hill
Ida Barbara Moran
💍 1918/4221

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister and Solicitor
Teacher of Singing

31
30

St Albans
St Albans

9 months
1 month

St Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch

3412

29 July 1918

Rev B. H. Seymour R.C.

No	410
Date of Notice	29 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Bernard Hill	Ida Barbara Moran
	💍 1918/4221
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister and Solicitor	Teacher of Singing
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	St Albans	St Albans
Length of Residence	9 months	1 month
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch
Folio	3412
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev B. H. Seymour R.C.

411

30 July 1918

Ernest Walter Ralph Davidson
Marion Clarice Linley Baker

Ernest Walter Ralph Davidson
Marion Clarice Linley Baker
💍 1918/4222

Divorced Decree Absolute dated July 24 1918
Spinster

Grocery Manager

38
24

Papanui
Spreydon

38 years
5 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3413

30 July 1918

Registrar

No	411
Date of Notice	30 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Walter Ralph Davidson	Marion Clarice Linley Baker
	💍 1918/4222
Condition	Divorced Decree Absolute dated July 24 1918	Spinster
Profession	Grocery Manager
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Spreydon
Length of Residence	38 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3413
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).