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 2460

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

889

3 November 1915

Sidney Perkins
Lucy Martha Rhodes

Sidney Perkins
Lucy Martha Rhodes
💍 1915/5796

Bachelor
Spinster

Vacuum + General Cleaner
Tailoress

31
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
Life

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

8118

3 November 1915

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	889
Date of Notice	3 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Perkins	Lucy Martha Rhodes
	💍 1915/5796
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Vacuum + General Cleaner	Tailoress
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	8118
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

890

3 November 1915

Francis Orton Thomas
Annie Mullaney

Francis Orten Thomas
Annie Mullaney
💍 1915/1027

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Machinist

23
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 weeks
14 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St., Christchurch

7296

3 November 1915

Rev. T. W. Price, R. C.

No	890
Date of Notice	3 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Orton Thomas	Annie Mullaney
BDM Match (98%)	Francis Orten Thomas	Annie Mullaney
	💍 1915/1027
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Machinist
Age	23	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 weeks	14 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St., Christchurch
Folio	7296
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Price, R. C.

891

4 November 1915

George Edward Wilkins
Catherine Magee

George Edward Wilkins
Catherine Magee
💍 1915/1046

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer

25
35

Woolston
Woolston

2 years
2 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

8016

4 November 1915

Registrar

No	891
Date of Notice	4 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Wilkins	Catherine Magee
	💍 1915/1046
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer
Age	25	35
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	8016
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

892

4 November 1915

Leslie Benjamin Cooper Calder
Cecilia Elizabeth Beatrice Mellor

Leslie Benjamin Cooper Calder
Cecilia Elizabeth Beatrice Mellor
💍 1915/5797

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter + Joiner
Tailoress

24
28

Sydenham
Sydenham

Life
4 years

Methodist Church, Sydenham

8119

4 November 1915

Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

No	892
Date of Notice	4 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Benjamin Cooper Calder	Cecilia Elizabeth Beatrice Mellor
	💍 1915/5797
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter + Joiner	Tailoress
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	Life	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Sydenham
Folio	8119
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

893

4 November 1915

Albert George Watson
Mary Jane Knipe

Albert George Watson
Mary Jane Knipe
💍 1915/5798

Widower -/12/1909
Widow 26/6/1914

Fruiterer
Tailoress

44
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
6 years

Wesleyan Church, Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

8120

4 November 1915

Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Methodist

No	893
Date of Notice	4 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert George Watson	Mary Jane Knipe
	💍 1915/5798
Condition	Widower -/12/1909	Widow 26/6/1914
Profession	Fruiterer	Tailoress
Age	44	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	8120
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Methodist

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).