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 2458

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

879

1 November 1915

Robert James Coates
Annette Marjorie Jacobs

Robert James Coates
Annette Marjorie Jacobs
💍 1915/5768

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister

34
28

Auckland
Christchurch

4 years
1 week

St. Luke's Church Christchurch

8113

1 November 1915

Rev. J.R. Newland, Anglican

No	879
Date of Notice	1 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Coates	Annette Marjorie Jacobs
	💍 1915/5768
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church Christchurch
Folio	8113
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J.R. Newland, Anglican

880

1 November 1915

Alfred John Allen
Doris Lillian Agnes Danelton

Alfred John Allen
Doris Lillian Agnes Daulton
💍 1915/5769

Bachelor
Spinster

Brickmaker
Laundress

21
18

Sydenham
Christchurch

21 years
1 year

Residnce of Mrs Hollands 139 Fitzgerald Avenue Christchurch

8114

There is no person in N.Z. having authority by law to give consent.

15 November 1915

Rev. W.A. Sinclair, Methodist

No	880
Date of Notice	1 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred John Allen	Doris Lillian Agnes Danelton
BDM Match (96%)	Alfred John Allen	Doris Lillian Agnes Daulton
	💍 1915/5769
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brickmaker	Laundress
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Residnce of Mrs Hollands 139 Fitzgerald Avenue Christchurch
Folio	8114
Consent	There is no person in N.Z. having authority by law to give consent.
Date of Certificate	15 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W.A. Sinclair, Methodist

881

1 November 1915

Fredrick George Samuel Chapman
Olga Florence Lester

Frederick George Samuel Chapman
Olga Florence Lester
💍 1915/5314

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
23

Lincoln
Lincoln

14 years
1 year

St. Mark's Church Opawa

7582

1 November 1915

Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

No	881
Date of Notice	1 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fredrick George Samuel Chapman	Olga Florence Lester
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick George Samuel Chapman	Olga Florence Lester
	💍 1915/5314
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Lincoln	Lincoln
Length of Residence	14 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church Opawa
Folio	7582
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

882

1 November 1915

Arthur Busdin Philpott
Jessie Mabel Manley Agar

Arthur Cusdin Philpott
Jessie Mabel Manley Agar
💍 1915/41

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanical Engineer
Tailoress

29
22

St. Albans
St. Albans

Life
8 years

St. Matthew's Church St. Albans

9989

1 November 1915

Rev. P.B. Haggitt, Anglican

No	882
Date of Notice	1 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Busdin Philpott	Jessie Mabel Manley Agar
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Cusdin Philpott	Jessie Mabel Manley Agar
	💍 1915/41
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanical Engineer	Tailoress
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church St. Albans
Folio	9989
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.B. Haggitt, Anglican

883

1 November 1915

Arthur Ashley Cooper
Cordelia Rose Jaggar

Arthur Ashley Cooper
Cordelia Rose Jaggar
💍 1915/5826

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

19
23

Cashmere
Riccarton

13 years
13 years

St. Peter's Church Upper Riccarton

8157

Ashley Griffith Cooper, Father.

1 November 1915

Rev. H.T. York, Anglican

No	883
Date of Notice	1 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ashley Cooper	Cordelia Rose Jaggar
	💍 1915/5826
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	19	23
Dwelling Place	Cashmere	Riccarton
Length of Residence	13 years	13 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church Upper Riccarton
Folio	8157
Consent	Ashley Griffith Cooper, Father.
Date of Certificate	1 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.T. York, Anglican

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).