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 1966

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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

166

28 March 1918

William Henry Bennett
Dorcas Augustine Findlay

William Henry Bennett
Dorcas Augustine Findlay
💍 1918/360

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Waitress

37
26

Sydenham
New Brighton

5 years
6 years

Presbyterian Church, North New Brighton

717

28 March 1918

M. J. B. Bickerstaff, Presbyterian

No	166
Date of Notice	28 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Bennett	Dorcas Augustine Findlay
	💍 1918/360
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Waitress
Age	37	26
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	New Brighton
Length of Residence	5 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, North New Brighton
Folio	717
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1918
Officiating Minister	M. J. B. Bickerstaff, Presbyterian

167

28 March 1918

Francis James Faulkner
Ellen Sanders

Francis James Faulkner
Ellen Sanders
💍 1918/361

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Shop Assistant

25
22

St Albans
Linwood

Life
Life

Methodist Church Fitzgerald Avenue Christchurch

718

28 March 1918

Rev E. P. Blamires, Methodist

No	167
Date of Notice	28 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis James Faulkner	Ellen Sanders
	💍 1918/361
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Shop Assistant
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	St Albans	Linwood
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Fitzgerald Avenue Christchurch
Folio	718
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev E. P. Blamires, Methodist

168

28 March 1918

Charles James Gallagher
Helen Hastings

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

37
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 days
5 years

St Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch

Not solemnised see attached

28 March 1918

Rev P. Regnault, Roman Catholic

No	168
Date of Notice	28 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles James Gallagher	Helen Hastings
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	37	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 days	5 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch
Folio	Not solemnised see attached
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev P. Regnault, Roman Catholic

169

28 March 1918

Richard Edgar Leslie Hampton
Margaret Doig

Richard Edgar Leslie Hampton
Margaret Doig
💍 1918/362

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

26
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 days
3 days

Residence of Rev F. Rule 45 Richmond Terrace Christchurch

719

28 March 1918

Rev F. Rule, Presbyterian

No	169
Date of Notice	28 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Edgar Leslie Hampton	Margaret Doig
	💍 1918/362
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev F. Rule 45 Richmond Terrace Christchurch
Folio	719
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev F. Rule, Presbyterian

170

28 March 1918

Harry Cholmondeley Owen
Harriet Elizabeth Mcachen

Harry Cholmondeley Owen
Harriet Elizabeth Machen
💍 1918/364

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Waitress

27
25

at Sea
Christchurch

25 years

Residence of M W Owen 520 Tuam Street Christchurch

720

28 March 1918

Rev E. P. Blamires, Methodist

No	170
Date of Notice	28 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Cholmondeley Owen	Harriet Elizabeth Mcachen
BDM Match (98%)	Harry Cholmondeley Owen	Harriet Elizabeth Machen
	💍 1918/364
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Waitress
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	at Sea	Christchurch
Length of Residence		25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of M W Owen 520 Tuam Street Christchurch
Folio	720
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev E. P. Blamires, Methodist

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).