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 1672

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 March 1918 Registrar Jno Sibbald

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

13 February 1918

Baden Powell Ewart
Barbara Napier Annand

Baden Powell Ewart
Barbara Napier Annaud
💍 1918/596

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Mechanic
Dressmaker

17
18

Blenheim
Blenheim

Life
2 years

Church of Nativity, Blenheim

18/1283

Edward Ewart, Father; William Annand, Father

13 February 1918

Arch. T. S. Grace, Church of England

No	6
Date of Notice	13 February 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Baden Powell Ewart	Barbara Napier Annand
BDM Match (98%)	Baden Powell Ewart	Barbara Napier Annaud
	💍 1918/596
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Mechanic	Dressmaker
Age	17	18
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	Life	2 years
Marriage Place	Church of Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	18/1283
Consent	Edward Ewart, Father; William Annand, Father
Date of Certificate	13 February 1918
Officiating Minister	Arch. T. S. Grace, Church of England

1 March 1918

Sydney Frank Haines
Mary Elizabeth Miller

Sydney Frank Haines
Mary Elizabeth Miller
💍 1918/597

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Household Duties

38
49

Renwicktown
Renwicktown

Life
Life

Registrar's Office, Blenheim

18/1284

1 March 1918

Mr. W. Sibbald, Registrar

No	7
Date of Notice	1 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Frank Haines	Mary Elizabeth Miller
	💍 1918/597
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Household Duties
Age	38	49
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Blenheim
Folio	18/1284
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Mr. W. Sibbald, Registrar

4 March 1918

Gordon Forbes
Agatha Flanagan

Gordon Forbes
Agatha Flanagan
💍 1918/574

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic duties

32
36

Renwicktown
Blenheim

Life
3 years

Registrar's Office, Blenheim

18/1285

4 March 1918

Mr. W. Sibbald, Registrar

No	8
Date of Notice	4 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Forbes	Agatha Flanagan
	💍 1918/574
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic duties
Age	32	36
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Blenheim
Length of Residence	Life	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Blenheim
Folio	18/1285
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Mr. W. Sibbald, Registrar

18 March 1918

Albert Edward Smith
Marjory Hazel Rogers

Albert Edward Smith
Marjory Hazel Rogers
💍 1918/575

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

34
16

Hillersden
Springlands

13 years
16 years

Residence of Mrs. Rogers, Springlands Blenheim

18/1286

Henry William Rogers, Father

18 March 1918

Rev. H. B. White, Church of England

No	9
Date of Notice	18 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Smith	Marjory Hazel Rogers
	💍 1918/575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	34	16
Dwelling Place	Hillersden	Springlands
Length of Residence	13 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Rogers, Springlands Blenheim
Folio	18/1286
Consent	Henry William Rogers, Father
Date of Certificate	18 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. White, Church of England

19 March 1918

Jack Fissenden
Annie Beatrice Coward

Jack Fissenden
Annie Beatrice Coward
💍 1918/576

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

23
20

Grassmere
Blenheim

Life
Life

Wesley Church, Blenheim

18/1287

Walter Richard Coward, Father

19 March 1918

Rev. B. J. Rothwell, Methodist

No	10
Date of Notice	19 March 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jack Fissenden	Annie Beatrice Coward
	💍 1918/576
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Grassmere	Blenheim
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Wesley Church, Blenheim
Folio	18/1287
Consent	Walter Richard Coward, Father
Date of Certificate	19 March 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. J. Rothwell, 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).