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 2464

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

909

8 November 1915

James Stanley Waite
Margaret Isabel Webster

James Stanley Waite
Margaret Isabel Webster
💍 1915/5795

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant
Machinist

21
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
4 days

Methodist Parsonage, Brougham St, Sydenham

8140

8 November 1915

Rev. A.N. Scotter, Methodist

No	909
Date of Notice	8 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Stanley Waite	Margaret Isabel Webster
	💍 1915/5795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant	Machinist
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	4 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage, Brougham St, Sydenham
Folio	8140
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A.N. Scotter, Methodist

910

9 November 1915

Thomas MacNeill
Maude Wisborn

Thomas MacNeill
Maude Wisdom
💍 1915/5818

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

33
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Dwelling of Rev. J. J. North, 271 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

8141

9 November 1915

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	910
Date of Notice	9 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas MacNeill	Maude Wisborn
BDM Match (88%)	Thomas MacNeill	Maude Wisdom
	💍 1915/5818
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	33	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Rev. J. J. North, 271 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	8141
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

911

9 November 1915

Peter Cook
Harriet Phillips

Peter Cook
Harriet Phillips
💍 1915/1067

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
BookKeeper

27
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
16 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

8021

9 November 1915

Registrar

No	911
Date of Notice	9 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Cook	Harriet Phillips
	💍 1915/1067
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	BookKeeper
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	8021
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

912

9 November 1915

Samuel Jamieson Ellis
Eva Alice Mary Maynard

Samuel Jamieson Ellis
Eva Alice Mary Maynard
💍 1915/5829

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Clerk

33
27

Christchurch
Sumner

3 days
16 months

Dwelling of Mr Maynard, Clifton, Sumner

8142

9 November 1915

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	912
Date of Notice	9 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Jamieson Ellis	Eva Alice Mary Maynard
	💍 1915/5829
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Clerk
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sumner
Length of Residence	3 days	16 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr Maynard, Clifton, Sumner
Folio	8142
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

913

9 November 1915

Frank Willoughby Evans
Irene Gertrude Arenas

Frank Willoughby Evans
Irene Gertrude Arenas
💍 1915/5836

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Musician

27
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months
3 days

St. Mary's Church, Addington

8143

9 November 1915

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	913
Date of Notice	9 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Willoughby Evans	Irene Gertrude Arenas
	💍 1915/5836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Musician
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	8143
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).