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 1682

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 September 1918 Registrar W. McIntosh

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

22 July 1918

Eli King
Alice Severine Wratt

Eli King
Alice Severine Wratt
💍 1918/5001

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Domestic

22
21

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Blenheim

18/4579

22 July 1918

Registrar (Mr. W. McIntosh)

No	39
Date of Notice	22 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eli King	Alice Severine Wratt
	💍 1918/5001
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Domestic
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Blenheim
Folio	18/4579
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar (Mr. W. McIntosh)

29 July 1918

Archie Carlyle Lester
Ethel Joyce Grace

Archie Carlyle Lester
Ethel Joyce Grace
💍 1918/5002

Bachelor
Spinster

Auctioneer
Domestic duties

29
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

18 months
22 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

18/4580

29 July 1918

Canon J. R. Dart, Church of England

No	40
Date of Notice	29 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archie Carlyle Lester	Ethel Joyce Grace
	💍 1918/5002
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Auctioneer	Domestic duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	18 months	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	18/4580
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Canon J. R. Dart, Church of England

3 August 1918

Arthur Blick
Flora Cameron

Arthur Blick
Flora Cameron
💍 1918/5003

Widower, 5 January 1917
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

43
48

Blenheim
Grovetown

43 years
48 years

Presbyterian manse, Springlands

18/4581

3 August 1918

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	41
Date of Notice	3 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Blick	Flora Cameron
	💍 1918/5003
Condition	Widower, 5 January 1917	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	43	48
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Grovetown
Length of Residence	43 years	48 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian manse, Springlands
Folio	18/4581
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

7 August 1918

Edward John Thomas
Evelyn Annie Reynolds
formerly Frost

Edward John Thomas
Evelyn Annie Reynolds
💍 1918/5004

Widower, 14 March 1914
Divorced, 19 July 1918

Gardener
Domestic

64
44

Renwicktown
Blenheim

40 years
20 years

Registrar's Office, Blenheim

18/4582

7 August 1918

Registrar (Mr. W. McIntosh)

No	42
Date of Notice	7 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Thomas	Evelyn Annie Reynolds formerly Frost
	💍 1918/5004
Condition	Widower, 14 March 1914	Divorced, 19 July 1918
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	64	44
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Blenheim
Length of Residence	40 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Blenheim
Folio	18/4582
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar (Mr. W. McIntosh)

6 September 1918

Leonard Jack Bary
Eileen Margaret Matthews

Leonard Jack Bary
Eileen Margaret Matthews
💍 1918/5005

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep-farmer
Domestic

23
22

Renwicktown
Rapaura

23 years
22 years

Church of England, Rapaura

18/4583

6 September 1918

Rev. H. B. W. White, Church of England

No	43
Date of Notice	6 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Jack Bary	Eileen Margaret Matthews
	💍 1918/5005
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep-farmer	Domestic
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Rapaura
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Rapaura
Folio	18/4583
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 September 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. W. White, Church of England

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).