Intentions to Marry, 1915 Kaikoura to Rakaia

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840461, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1915 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.

1915e contains pages 1973-2618, covering districts from Kaikoura to Rakaia

Page 2484

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1915

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

1009

6 December 1915

Henry Lynne-Hartog
Josephine Elizabeth Twemlow

Henry Lynne-Hartog
Josephine Elizabeth Twemlow
💍 1915/6354

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanical Engineer

34
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
1 year

St. Andrews Church Christchurch

8706

Elizabeth Twemlow, mother

6 December 1915

Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	1009
Date of Notice	6 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Lynne-Hartog	Josephine Elizabeth Twemlow
	💍 1915/6354
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanical Engineer
Age	34	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church Christchurch
Folio	8706
Consent	Elizabeth Twemlow, mother
Date of Certificate	6 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

1010

6 December 1915

George Thomas Owen
Gertrude Alice Higgs

George Thomas Owen
Gertrude Alice Higgs
💍 1915/5940

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Tailoress

28
29

Opawa
Linwood

16 years
6 years

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

8189

6 December 1915

Rev. O. Fitzgerald, Anglican

No	1010
Date of Notice	6 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Thomas Owen	Gertrude Alice Higgs
	💍 1915/5940
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Tailoress
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Linwood
Length of Residence	16 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	8189
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald, Anglican

1011

6 December 1915

Robert Baylis Nicoll
Beatrice Killick

Robert Baylis Nicoll
Beatrice Killick
💍 1915/5917

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

35
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
8 months

St. Barnabas Church Fendalton

8190

6 December 1915

Rev. T. A. Hamilton, Anglican

No	1011
Date of Notice	6 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Baylis Nicoll	Beatrice Killick
	💍 1915/5917
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	35	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	8 months
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church Fendalton
Folio	8190
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Hamilton, Anglican

1012

7 December 1915

Edgar Lowrie Stace
Elsie Vera Lange

Edgar Lorrie Stace
Elsie Vera Lange
💍 1915/5680

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic

20
18

New Brighton
New Brighton

1 week
3 days

Registrar's Office Christchurch

8041

Edgar Stace, Father; Werner Axel Geo. Lange, Father

7 December 1915

Registrar

No	1012
Date of Notice	7 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Lowrie Stace	Elsie Vera Lange
BDM Match (97%)	Edgar Lorrie Stace	Elsie Vera Lange
	💍 1915/5680
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	New Brighton	New Brighton
Length of Residence	1 week	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	8041
Consent	Edgar Stace, Father; Werner Axel Geo. Lange, Father
Date of Certificate	7 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

1013

7 December 1915

Norman Richard Hawker
Mary Wilson Smith

Norman Richard Hawker
Mary Wilson Smith
💍 1915/5918

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Cycle Salesman
Typiste

18
20

Riccarton
Riccarton

3 years
7 years

Dwelling of Mr. J. Smith 17 Clarence Rd Riccarton

8191

Edith Mary Maynard formerly Hawker, mother; John Smith, Father

7 December 1915

Rev. J. Laird, Baptist

No	1013
Date of Notice	7 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Richard Hawker	Mary Wilson Smith
	💍 1915/5918
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Cycle Salesman	Typiste
Age	18	20
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. J. Smith 17 Clarence Rd Riccarton
Folio	8191
Consent	Edith Mary Maynard formerly Hawker, mother; John Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	7 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Laird, Baptist

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).