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 2226

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 September 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

17 July 1918

Alexander Chant
Veronica Shea

Alexander Chant
Veronica Shea
💍 1918/5065

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm labourer
Domestic

36
27

St. Andrews
St. Andrews

4 years
16 years

Roman Catholic Church, St. Andrews

4694

17 July 1918

Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic

No	48
Date of Notice	17 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Chant	Veronica Shea
	💍 1918/5065
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm labourer	Domestic
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	St. Andrews	St. Andrews
Length of Residence	4 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, St. Andrews
Folio	4694
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic

19 July 1918

Michael Hargadon
Grace Sarah Arbuckle

Michael Hargadon
Grace Sarah Arbuckle
💍 1918/5067

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

36
28

Timaru
Timaru

5 years
5 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

4695

19 July 1918

Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic

No	49
Date of Notice	19 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Hargadon	Grace Sarah Arbuckle
	💍 1918/5067
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	36	28
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	4695
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic

23 July 1918

Robert Samuel Kain
Rachel Henderson

Robert Samuel Kain
Rachel Henderson
💍 1918/5068

Widower 7.1.1917
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Surgical medical Nurse

53
41

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru

4696

23 July 1918

Rev. J. H. Rogers, Anglican

No	50
Date of Notice	23 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Samuel Kain	Rachel Henderson
	💍 1918/5068
Condition	Widower 7.1.1917	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Surgical medical Nurse
Age	53	41
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru
Folio	4696
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Rogers, Anglican

27 July 1918

Edmond Wilfred Allan
Gertrude Frances Symes

Edmond Wilfred Allan
Gertrude Frances Symes
💍 1918/5069

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyors Assistant
Governess

20
21

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

Registrars office, Timaru

4697

Robert Allan, Father

27 July 1918

J. McKittrick, Registrar

No	51
Date of Notice	27 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmond Wilfred Allan	Gertrude Frances Symes
	💍 1918/5069
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyors Assistant	Governess
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrars office, Timaru
Folio	4697
Consent	Robert Allan, Father
Date of Certificate	27 July 1918
Officiating Minister	J. McKittrick, Registrar

31 July 1918

Alfred Waud
Hannah Ellen

Alfred Waud
Hannah Ellem
💍 1918/5070

Widower 29.10.1916
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

61
35

Timaru
Timaru

3 years
35 years

Registrars Office, Timaru

4698

31 July 1918

J. McKittrick, Registrar

No	52
Date of Notice	31 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Waud	Hannah Ellen
BDM Match (96%)	Alfred Waud	Hannah Ellem
	💍 1918/5070
Condition	Widower 29.10.1916	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	61	35
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	35 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Timaru
Folio	4698
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1918
Officiating Minister	J. McKittrick, Registrar

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).