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 1976

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

209

15 April 1918

Julian Vivian Siddall
Elizabeth Henderson Brown

Julian Vivian Siddall
Elizabeth Henderson Brown
💍 1918/2128

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
-

24
22

Christchurch
Sydenham

7 days
4 years

Residence of Mr. R. Brown, 36 Leicester Street, Sydenham

1666

15 April 1918

Rev. T. M. Donald, Presbyterian

No	209
Date of Notice	15 April 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Julian Vivian Siddall	Elizabeth Henderson Brown
	💍 1918/2128
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	-
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	7 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. R. Brown, 36 Leicester Street, Sydenham
Folio	1666
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. M. Donald, Presbyterian

210

15 April 1918

William James Carter
Hilda Maud Summerton

William James Carter
Hilda Maud Summerton
💍 1918/2129

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Machinist

31
19

Sumner
Sumner

20 years
3 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

1667

Jane Carter, formerly Summerton, Mother

15 April 1918

Registrar

No	210
Date of Notice	15 April 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Carter	Hilda Maud Summerton
	💍 1918/2129
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Machinist
Age	31	19
Dwelling Place	Sumner	Sumner
Length of Residence	20 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	1667
Consent	Jane Carter, formerly Summerton, Mother
Date of Certificate	15 April 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar

211

15 April 1918

Charles Edward Ernest White
Elizabeth Mary Ann Maffey

Charles Edward Ernest White
Elizabeth Mary Ann Maffey
💍 1918/2130

Bachelor
Spinster

Grower of hothouse plants
-

21
21

Woolston
Woolston

8 years
4 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

1668

15 April 1918

Registrar

No	211
Date of Notice	15 April 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Ernest White	Elizabeth Mary Ann Maffey
	💍 1918/2130
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grower of hothouse plants	-
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	8 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	1668
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar

212

15 April 1918

George Frost
Lilian Roland Scholfield

George Frost
Lilian Roland Scholfield
💍 1918/2131

Widower January 23rd 1917
Spinster

Valuer
-

56
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 days
20 years

Residence of Mrs. J. Davy, 23 Smollett Street, Sydenham

1669

15 April 1918

Rev. W. R. Campbell, Presbyterian

No	212
Date of Notice	15 April 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frost	Lilian Roland Scholfield
	💍 1918/2131
Condition	Widower January 23rd 1917	Spinster
Profession	Valuer	-
Age	56	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. J. Davy, 23 Smollett Street, Sydenham
Folio	1669
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Campbell, Presbyterian

213

15 April 1918

Hugh Douglas
Ann Mary Thomson

Hugh Douglas
Ada Mary Thomson
💍 1918/2133

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
-

30
21

Christchurch
Halkett Town

4 years
21 years

St. Andrews Church, Christchurch

1670

15 April 1918

Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	213
Date of Notice	15 April 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Douglas	Ann Mary Thomson
BDM Match (94%)	Hugh Douglas	Ada Mary Thomson
	💍 1918/2133
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	-
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Halkett Town
Length of Residence	4 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Christchurch
Folio	1670
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson, 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).