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 2456

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

869

26 October 1915

George Weston
Espha Dagmar Mann (commonly known as Espha Dagmar McBree)

George Weston
Espha Dagmar McCree
💍 1915/5759

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Waitress

28
23

Sydenham
Linwood

7 years
3 months

St Paul's Manse, Latimer Square, Christchurch

8105

26 October 1915

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	869
Date of Notice	26 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Weston	Espha Dagmar Mann (commonly known as Espha Dagmar McBree)
BDM Match (66%)	George Weston	Espha Dagmar McCree
	💍 1915/5759
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Waitress
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Linwood
Length of Residence	7 years	3 months
Marriage Place	St Paul's Manse, Latimer Square, Christchurch
Folio	8105
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

870

27 October 1915

Richard Henry Herbert Snell
Florence Elsie Nobrie Snell

Richard Henry Herbert Snell
Florence Elsie Snell
💍 1915/7553

Bachelor
Spinster

Mental Hospital attendant + off return
Schoolteacher

29
21

Sunnyside
Kaiapoi

2 years
Life

St Michael's Church, Christchurch

10011

27 October 1915

Rev. H. Machin, Anglican

No	870
Date of Notice	27 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Henry Herbert Snell	Florence Elsie Nobrie Snell
BDM Match (87%)	Richard Henry Herbert Snell	Florence Elsie Snell
	💍 1915/7553
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mental Hospital attendant + off return	Schoolteacher
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Sunnyside	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	2 years	Life
Marriage Place	St Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	10011
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Machin, Anglican

871

27 October 1915

Joseph Theodore Lewis
Irene Canfield Hope

Joseph Theodore Lewis
Irene Caulfield Hope
💍 1915/5671

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Tailor

28
21

Christchurch
Linwood

3 days
12 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

8014

27 October 1915

Registrar

No	871
Date of Notice	27 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Theodore Lewis	Irene Canfield Hope
BDM Match (95%)	Joseph Theodore Lewis	Irene Caulfield Hope
	💍 1915/5671
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Tailor
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	8014
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

872

27 October 1915

James Frederick Harrington
Elenor Alice Mary Warren

James Frederick Horrington
Elenor Alice Mary Warren
💍 1915/5760

Bachelor
Spinster

Lineman
Tailoress

25
21

Spreydon
Spreydon

15 years
Life

Residence of Mrs Prestidge, 71 Harper St, Sydenham

8106

27 October 1915

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	872
Date of Notice	27 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Frederick Harrington	Elenor Alice Mary Warren
BDM Match (98%)	James Frederick Horrington	Elenor Alice Mary Warren
	💍 1915/5760
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lineman	Tailoress
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	15 years	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Prestidge, 71 Harper St, Sydenham
Folio	8106
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

873

28 October 1915

Frederick John Stanley Margetts
Lilian Regina Cox

Frederick John Stanley Margetts
Lilian Regina Cox
💍 1915/5761

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrical Engineer

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Residence of Rev. F. Rule, 45 Richmond Terrace, Christchurch

8107

28 October 1915

Rev. F. Rule, Presbyterian

No	873
Date of Notice	28 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Stanley Margetts	Lilian Regina Cox
	💍 1915/5761
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrical Engineer
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. F. Rule, 45 Richmond Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	8107
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Rule, Presbyterian

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).