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 2454

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

859

22 October 1915

Robert Roy Senior
Leonora Dixon

Robert Ray Senior
Leonora Dixon
💍 1915/5777

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Typiste

19
23

Redcliffs
Linwood

Life
Life

St. Paul's Manse Christchurch

8099

Arthur Senior, Father

22 October 1915

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	859
Date of Notice	22 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Roy Senior	Leonora Dixon
BDM Match (97%)	Robert Ray Senior	Leonora Dixon
	💍 1915/5777
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Typiste
Age	19	23
Dwelling Place	Redcliffs	Linwood
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Manse Christchurch
Folio	8099
Consent	Arthur Senior, Father
Date of Certificate	22 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

860

22 October 1915

William Leonard Cook
Daisy Lezard

William Leonard Cook
Daisy Tezard
💍 1915/5754

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic
Musician

36
31

Riccarton
Linwood

13 years
9 years

St. John's Church Christchurch

8100

22 October 1915

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	860
Date of Notice	22 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Leonard Cook	Daisy Lezard
BDM Match (96%)	William Leonard Cook	Daisy Tezard
	💍 1915/5754
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic	Musician
Age	36	31
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Linwood
Length of Residence	13 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church Christchurch
Folio	8100
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

861

23 October 1915

Thomas William Hurley
Florence Ellen Benney

Thomas William Hurley
Florence Ellen Benney
💍 1915/1028

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper's Assistant
Tailoress

24
25

Linwood
Christchurch

5 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

7297

23 October 1915

Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	861
Date of Notice	23 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Hurley	Florence Ellen Benney
	💍 1915/1028
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper's Assistant	Tailoress
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	7297
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

862

23 October 1915

Albert Fehsenfeld
Florence Elinor Smith

Albert Fehsenfeld
Florence Elinor Smith
💍 1915/5755

Bachelor
Spinster

Upholsterer
Bookbinder

29
26

Sydenham
Sydenham

Life
Life

Methodist Church Sydenham

8101

23 October 1915

Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

No	862
Date of Notice	23 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Fehsenfeld	Florence Elinor Smith
	💍 1915/5755
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Upholsterer	Bookbinder
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Sydenham
Folio	8101
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

863

23 October 1915

Richard Simpson
Josephine Hetta Bozanti

Richard Simpson
Josephine Hetta Bozanti
💍 1915/1029

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Machinist

29
26

St. Albans
Sydenham

3 years
7 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St. Christchurch

7298

23 October 1915

Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	863
Date of Notice	23 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Simpson	Josephine Hetta Bozanti
	💍 1915/1029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Machinist
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St. Christchurch
Folio	7298
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

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).