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 2233

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 December 1918 Registrar J. McKittrick

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 November 1918

James Jubilee Coulter
Olive Mary Williams

James Jubilee Coulter
Olive Mary Williams
💍 1918/6328

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
music-teacher

31
23

Pareora
St. Andrews

10 months
15 years

Chalmers Church, Timaru

6083

11 November 1918

Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian

No	80
Date of Notice	11 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Jubilee Coulter	Olive Mary Williams
	💍 1918/6328
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	music-teacher
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Pareora	St. Andrews
Length of Residence	10 months	15 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Church, Timaru
Folio	6083
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 November 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian

15 November 1918

William Wallace Hooper
Ellen Mary Pearce

William Wallace Hooper
Mary Ellen Pearce
💍 1918/6329

Widower 27. 7. 1913
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

35
30

Timaru
Timaru

9 months
6 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

6084

15 November 1918

Rev. J. S. Herbert, Roman Catholic

No	81
Date of Notice	15 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wallace Hooper	Ellen Mary Pearce
BDM Match (71%)	William Wallace Hooper	Mary Ellen Pearce
	💍 1918/6329
Condition	Widower 27. 7. 1913	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	9 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	6084
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Herbert, Roman Catholic

5 December 1918

John Hawkins
Mary Elizabeth Ferguson

John Hawkins
Mary Elizabeth Ferguson
💍 1918/6307

Bachelor
Widow 23. 11. 1912

Farm-hand
Domestic

32
32

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Timaru

6085

5 December 1918

J. McKittrick, Registrar

No	82
Date of Notice	5 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hawkins	Mary Elizabeth Ferguson
	💍 1918/6307
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 23. 11. 1912
Profession	Farm-hand	Domestic
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Timaru
Folio	6085
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 December 1918
Officiating Minister	J. McKittrick, Registrar

10 December 1918

Vernon James Philip Armstrong
Annie Louisa Cox

Vernon James Philip Armstrong
Annie Louisa Cox
💍 1918/6308

Bachelor
Spinster

Iron-moulder
Domestic

36
28

Timaru
Timaru

23 years
3 1/2 years

Residence of Mr J. S. Herron, Otipua Road, Timaru

6086

10 December 1918

Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian

No	83
Date of Notice	10 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vernon James Philip Armstrong	Annie Louisa Cox
	💍 1918/6308
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Iron-moulder	Domestic
Age	36	28
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	23 years	3 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J. S. Herron, Otipua Road, Timaru
Folio	6086
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 December 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian

10 December 1918

Albert Glue
Marie Marion Foord

Albert Glue
Marie Marion Foord
💍 1918/6309

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Shop Assistant

28
23

Timaru
Timaru

27 years
13 years

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

6087

10 December 1918

Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian

No	84
Date of Notice	10 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Glue	Marie Marion Foord
	💍 1918/6309
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Shop Assistant
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	27 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	6087
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 December 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).