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 1992

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

289

29 May 1918

Samuel Wilson
Elsie May Woodham

Samuel Wilson
Elsie May Woodham
💍 1918/2764

Bachelor
Spinster

Meat Preserver
Tailoress

27
22

Belfast
Belfast

1 year
22 years

St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch

2331

29 May 1918

Rev. J. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	289
Date of Notice	29 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Wilson	Elsie May Woodham
	💍 1918/2764
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Meat Preserver	Tailoress
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Belfast	Belfast
Length of Residence	1 year	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch
Folio	2331
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

290

29 May 1918

Arthur Theodore Wright
Elsie Millicent Beckwith

Arthur Theodore Wright
Elsie Millicent Beckmith
💍 1918/2206

Bachelor
Spinster

Caretaker
Shorthand Typiste

33
32

Sumner
Linwood, Christchurch

3 months
15 years

Wesley Church, Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

1744

29 May 1918

Rev. E. P. Blamires, Methodist

No	290
Date of Notice	29 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Theodore Wright	Elsie Millicent Beckwith
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Theodore Wright	Elsie Millicent Beckmith
	💍 1918/2206
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Caretaker	Shorthand Typiste
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Sumner	Linwood, Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	15 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church, Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	1744
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. P. Blamires, Methodist

291

30 May 1918

Hugh Lindsay
Dorothy Gladys Forster

Hugh Lindsay
Dorothy Gladys Forster
💍 1918/2765

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Saleswoman

24
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
15 years

St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch

2332

30 May 1918

Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	291
Date of Notice	30 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Lindsay	Dorothy Gladys Forster
	💍 1918/2765
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Saleswoman
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch
Folio	2332
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

292

30 May 1918

James Phillip Hooper
Ruby Barkle

James Phillip Hooper
Ruby Barkle
💍 1918/2208

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
-

21
23

Sumner
Sumner, Christchurch

-
23 years

Registrar's Office

1745

30 May 1918

Registrar

No	292
Date of Notice	30 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Phillip Hooper	Ruby Barkle
	💍 1918/2208
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	-
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Sumner	Sumner, Christchurch
Length of Residence	-	23 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	1745
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar

293

30 May 1918

John William Drewery
Annie May Wallis

John William Drewery
Annie May Wallis
💍 1918/2209

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
-

36
38

Springston
St. Albans, Christchurch

36 years
18 months

St. Matthews Church, Christchurch

1746

30 May 1918

Rev. A. Hore, Anglican

No	293
Date of Notice	30 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Drewery	Annie May Wallis
	💍 1918/2209
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	-
Age	36	38
Dwelling Place	Springston	St. Albans, Christchurch
Length of Residence	36 years	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Christchurch
Folio	1746
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Hore, Anglican

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).