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 2229

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

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

11 September 1918

Geraldine Gallagher
Sarah Keane Jones

Geraldine Gallagher
Sarah Keane Jones
💍 1918/5268

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

31
20

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

4331

Charles Bright Jones (Father.)

11 September 1918

Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic

No	63
Date of Notice	11 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Geraldine Gallagher	Sarah Keane Jones
	💍 1918/5268
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	4331
Consent	Charles Bright Jones (Father.)
Date of Certificate	11 September 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic

11 September 1918

Gabriel Alfred Wilkes
Mary Elizabeth Shea

Gabriel Alfred Wilkes
Mary Elizabeth Shea
💍 1918/5269

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Clerk

19
28

Timaru
Timaru

19 years
28 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

4332

Elizabeth Florence Wilkes, (mother.)

11 September 1918

Rev. J. S. Herbert, Roman Catholic

No	64
Date of Notice	11 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gabriel Alfred Wilkes	Mary Elizabeth Shea
	💍 1918/5269
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Clerk
Age	19	28
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	19 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	4332
Consent	Elizabeth Florence Wilkes, (mother.)
Date of Certificate	11 September 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Herbert, Roman Catholic

20 September 1918

Robert Henry Jones
Ella Allison Brown

Robert Henry Jones
Ella Allison Brown
💍 1918/5080

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Shop Assistant

20
19

Timaru
Timaru

5 days
19 years

Residence of Rev. Thomas Stinson, Russell Square, Timaru

4709

ada Jones, (mother); agnes Elizabeth Brown (mother)

20 September 1918

Rev. T Stinson, Presbyterian

No	65
Date of Notice	20 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Jones	Ella Allison Brown
	💍 1918/5080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Shop Assistant
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 days	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. Thomas Stinson, Russell Square, Timaru
Folio	4709
Consent	ada Jones, (mother); agnes Elizabeth Brown (mother)
Date of Certificate	20 September 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. T Stinson, Presbyterian

21 September 1918

Donald Reuben Cooksley
Grace Evelyn Benson

Donald Reuben Cooksley
Grace Evelyn Benson
💍 1918/5081

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Domestic

22
18

Timaru
Timaru

1 year
6 years

Residence of Mr W. T. Benson, 20 North Street, Timaru

4710

William Thomas James Benson (Father)

21 September 1918

Rev. R. J. Liddell, Methodist

No	66
Date of Notice	21 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Reuben Cooksley	Grace Evelyn Benson
	💍 1918/5081
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Domestic
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr W. T. Benson, 20 North Street, Timaru
Folio	4710
Consent	William Thomas James Benson (Father)
Date of Certificate	21 September 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Liddell, Methodist

25 September 1918

John Mitchell
Maggie Munro

John Mitchell
Maggie Munro
💍 1918/5082

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

29
30

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
16 years

Residence of Mrs Jane Munro, Pringle Street, Timaru

4711

25 September 1918

Rev. G. R. Harries, Presbyterian

No	67
Date of Notice	25 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mitchell	Maggie Munro
	💍 1918/5082
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Jane Munro, Pringle Street, Timaru
Folio	4711
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 September 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. 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).