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 2012

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

387

16 July 1918

John Gibson
Charlotte Jane Loxton

John Gibson
Charlotte Jane Loxton
💍 1918/3901

Bachelor
Widow

Gardener
Shop Assistant

44
38

Merivale
Beckenham

3 years
Life

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

3390

16 July 1918

Rev J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	387
Date of Notice	16 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gibson	Charlotte Jane Loxton
	💍 1918/3901
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Gardener	Shop Assistant
Age	44	38
Dwelling Place	Merivale	Beckenham
Length of Residence	3 years	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev J. Paterson, 346 Worcester Street, Christchurch
Folio	3390
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Paterson, Presbyterian

388

16 July 1918

William Patrick Trenberth
Gladys Shurrock

William Patrick Trenberth
Gladys Shurrock
💍 1918/3902

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
19

Addington
Addington

3 days
6 years

St Mary's Church, Addington

3391

Henry Thomas Shurrock, Father

16 July 1918

Rev W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	388
Date of Notice	16 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Patrick Trenberth	Gladys Shurrock
	💍 1918/3902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	3391
Consent	Henry Thomas Shurrock, Father
Date of Certificate	16 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev W. S. Bean, Anglican

389

17 July 1918

Alfred Thomas Anderson
Kate Elizabeth Foster

Alfred Thomas Anderson
Kate Elizabeth Foster
💍 1918/5279

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

45
35

Ladbrooks
Ladbrooks

6 years
10 years

St Michael's Church, Christchurch

4842

17 July 1918

Rev E. Webb, Anglican

No	389
Date of Notice	17 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Thomas Anderson	Kate Elizabeth Foster
	💍 1918/5279
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	45	35
Dwelling Place	Ladbrooks	Ladbrooks
Length of Residence	6 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	4842
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev E. Webb, Anglican

390

17 July 1918

Lawrence Chapman Withers
Sarah Gwendoline Boon

Lawrence Chapman Wittiers
Sarah Gwendoline Boon
💍 1918/3903

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Packer

19
20

Christchurch
Spreydon

Life
6 years

Residence of Mr C. W. Boon, 40 Edinburgh Street, Spreydon

3392

Lucy Emma Harris, formerly Withers, Mother; Charles William Boon, Father

17 July 1918

Rev C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	390
Date of Notice	17 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Chapman Withers	Sarah Gwendoline Boon
BDM Match (96%)	Lawrence Chapman Wittiers	Sarah Gwendoline Boon
	💍 1918/3903
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Packer
Age	19	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Spreydon
Length of Residence	Life	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr C. W. Boon, 40 Edinburgh Street, Spreydon
Folio	3392
Consent	Lucy Emma Harris, formerly Withers, Mother; Charles William Boon, Father
Date of Certificate	17 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev C. Murray, Presbyterian

391

17 July 1918

Alfred Lewis
Ivy Dorothy Erridge

Alfred Lewis
Ivy Dorothy Erridge
💍 1918/3904

Bachelor
Spinster

Naturalpathist

22
16

Christchurch
Linwood

22 years
1 year

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

3393

Walter Joseph Erridge, Father

17 July 1918

Rev J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	391
Date of Notice	17 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Lewis	Ivy Dorothy Erridge
	💍 1918/3904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Naturalpathist
Age	22	16
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	22 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev J. Paterson, 346 Worcester Street, Christchurch
Folio	3393
Consent	Walter Joseph Erridge, Father
Date of Certificate	17 July 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).