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 1990

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

279

22 May 1918

Percy George Hugh Smith
Lilla Maud Land

Percy George Hugh Smith
Lilla Maud Land
💍 1918/2198

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

25
36

Linwood
St. Albans

Life
7 years

St Mary's church Addington

1736

22 May 1918

Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

No	279
Date of Notice	22 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy George Hugh Smith	Lilla Maud Land
	💍 1918/2198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	25	36
Dwelling Place	Linwood	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	7 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's church Addington
Folio	1736
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

280

24 May 1918

James Smith
Mary McKenzie

James Smith
Mary McKenzie
💍 1918/2762

Charles Smith
Mary McKenzie
💍 1919/744

Bachelor
Spinster

Foreman

50
40

Addington
Addington

3 days
13 years

Residence of Mrs J McKenzie 354 Selwyn Street Addington

2329

24 May 1918

Rev. A. T. Thompson Presbyterian

No	280
Date of Notice	24 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Smith	Mary McKenzie
	💍 1918/2762
BDM Match (85%)	Charles Smith	Mary McKenzie
	💍 1919/744
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foreman
Age	50	40
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	3 days	13 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs J McKenzie 354 Selwyn Street Addington
Folio	2329
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson Presbyterian

281

24 May 1918

Albert Edser
Annie Margaret Kelly

Albert Edser
Annie Margaret Kelly
💍 1918/2199

Bachelor
Widow 1916

Watchmaker

47
46

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
18 years

Residence of Rev. F. Rule 45 Richmond Terrace Christchurch

1737

24 May 1918

Rev. F. Rule Presbyterian

No	281
Date of Notice	24 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edser	Annie Margaret Kelly
	💍 1918/2199
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 1916
Profession	Watchmaker
Age	47	46
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. F. Rule 45 Richmond Terrace Christchurch
Folio	1737
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Rule Presbyterian

282

25 May 1918

Alfred Herbert Styles
Charlotte May Harrison

Alfred Herbert Styles
Charlotte May Harrison
💍 1918/2200

Bachelor
Spinster

Trapper
Nurse

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 weeks
2 weeks

Registrar's Office Christchurch

1738

25 May 1918

Registrar

No	282
Date of Notice	25 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Herbert Styles	Charlotte May Harrison
	💍 1918/2200
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Trapper	Nurse
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	1738
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar

283

25 May 1918

Francis Milne
Kathleen Healey McIntyre

Francis Milne
Kathleen Healey McIntyre
💍 1918/2201

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician

27
22

Papanui
Riccarton

Life
1 year

Knox church Bealey Avenue Christchurch

1739

25 May 1918

Rev. R. Erwin Presbyterian

No	283
Date of Notice	25 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Milne	Kathleen Healey McIntyre
	💍 1918/2201
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Riccarton
Length of Residence	Life	1 year
Marriage Place	Knox church Bealey Avenue Christchurch
Folio	1739
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin 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).