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 2488

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

1029

9 December 1915

Thomas William Johnston
Sarah Campbell

Thomas William Johnston
Sarah Campbell
💍 1915/5928

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

22
23

St. Albans
St. Albans

3 years
2 years

Dwelling of Mrs Boyd 75 Ranfurly Street St. Albans

8200

9 December 1915

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	1029
Date of Notice	9 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Johnston	Sarah Campbell
	💍 1915/5928
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs Boyd 75 Ranfurly Street St. Albans
Folio	8200
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

1030

11 December 1915

David Corbett McGill
Gladys Evelyn Gilbert

David Corbett McGill
Gladys Evelyn Gilbert
💍 1915/5691

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer

19
21

St. Albans
Papanui

15 years
2 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

8042

Elizabeth McGill mother

11 December 1915

Registrar

No	1030
Date of Notice	11 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Corbett McGill	Gladys Evelyn Gilbert
	💍 1915/5691
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	19	21
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Papanui
Length of Residence	15 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	8042
Consent	Elizabeth McGill mother
Date of Certificate	11 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

1031

13 December 1915

Alfred Robert Burgess
Jessie Rattray Macfarlane

Alfred Robert Burgess
Jessie Rattray Macfarlane
💍 1915/5930

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom + Gardener

21
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
2 years

Dwelling of Rev. A. Liversedge 22 Alexandra St. Richmond

8202

David Rattray Macfarlane Father

13 December 1915

Rev. A. Liversedge, Methodist

No	1031
Date of Notice	13 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Robert Burgess	Jessie Rattray Macfarlane
	💍 1915/5930
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom + Gardener
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Rev. A. Liversedge 22 Alexandra St. Richmond
Folio	8202
Consent	David Rattray Macfarlane Father
Date of Certificate	13 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Liversedge, Methodist

1032

13 December 1915

Reginald George Drake
Dorothy Broughton Dann

Reginald George Drake
Dorothy Broughton Dann
💍 1915/5931

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Clerk

21
21

Linwood
Richmond

21 years
9 months

St. John's Church Christchurch

8203

13 December 1915

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	1032
Date of Notice	13 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald George Drake	Dorothy Broughton Dann
	💍 1915/5931
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Clerk
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Richmond
Length of Residence	21 years	9 months
Marriage Place	St. John's Church Christchurch
Folio	8203
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

1033

13 December 1915

William Carnegie Napier
Anna Maria Mollison

William Carnegie Napier
Anna Maria Mollison
💍 1915/5932

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

41
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
Life

Caledonian Hall Worcester St. Christchurch

8204

13 December 1915

Mr. W. W. Collins, Rationalist

No	1033
Date of Notice	13 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Carnegie Napier	Anna Maria Mollison
	💍 1915/5932
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	41	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	Life
Marriage Place	Caledonian Hall Worcester St. Christchurch
Folio	8204
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Mr. W. W. Collins, Rationalist

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).