Intentions to Marry, 1918 Rangiora to Chatham Islands (includes Otago)

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840480, 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.

1918f contains pages 2189-2777, covering districts from Rangiora to Chatham Islands (includes Otago)

Page 2225

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 September 1918 Registrar J. M. Kittrica

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

3 July 1918

George William Langrish
Mabel Jane Gray

George William Langrish
Mabel Jane Gray
💍 1918/1603

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Domestic

40
27

Timaru
Timaru

40 years
27 years

Presbyterian Manse Timaru

4638

3 July 1918

Rev. T. Stinson, Presbyterian

No	43
Date of Notice	3 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Langrish	Mabel Jane Gray
	💍 1918/1603
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Domestic
Age	40	27
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	40 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse Timaru
Folio	4638
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Stinson, Presbyterian

9 July 1918

Ferme Lloyd Herriot
Emily Bella Angelina Bloomfield

Ferne Lloyd Herriot
Emily Bella Angelina Bloomfield
💍 1918/5061

Bachelor
Widow 18.12.1911

Electrical Storeman
Dressmaker

30
32

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
32 years

Residence of G. Ennis Hassel Street Timaru

4690

9 July 1918

Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian

No	44
Date of Notice	9 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ferme Lloyd Herriot	Emily Bella Angelina Bloomfield
BDM Match (97%)	Ferne Lloyd Herriot	Emily Bella Angelina Bloomfield
	💍 1918/5061
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 18.12.1911
Profession	Electrical Storeman	Dressmaker
Age	30	32
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	32 years
Marriage Place	Residence of G. Ennis Hassel Street Timaru
Folio	4690
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian

10 July 1918

James O'Boyle
Susannah Hickey

James OBoyle
Susannah Hickey
💍 1918/5062

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

30
24

Tycho Flat
Tycho Flat

10 years
6 years

Roman Catholic Church Timaru

4691

10 July 1918

Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic

No	45
Date of Notice	10 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James O'Boyle	Susannah Hickey
BDM Match (96%)	James OBoyle	Susannah Hickey
	💍 1918/5062
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Tycho Flat	Tycho Flat
Length of Residence	10 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Timaru
Folio	4691
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic

15 July 1918

Edward Pratt
Maud Edith Watkins

Edward Pratt
Maud Edith Watkins
💍 1918/5063

Bachelor
Spinster

Shop Assistant
Domestic

32
29

Timaru
Timaru

30 years
9 years

Residence of Mrs E. H. Ford 49 Victoria Street Timaru

4692

15 July 1918

Rev. J. H. Rogers, Anglican

No	46
Date of Notice	15 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Pratt	Maud Edith Watkins
	💍 1918/5063
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shop Assistant	Domestic
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	30 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs E. H. Ford 49 Victoria Street Timaru
Folio	4692
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Rogers, Anglican

17 July 1918

John Joiner
Mabel Moir

John Joiner
Mabel Moir
💍 1918/5064

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Housemaid

33
27

Timaru
Hadlow (Timaru)

8 years
5 years

Presbyterian Church Timaru

4693

17 July 1918

Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian

No	47
Date of Notice	17 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joiner	Mabel Moir
	💍 1918/5064
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Housemaid
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Hadlow (Timaru)
Length of Residence	8 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Timaru
Folio	4693
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Harries, 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).