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 2434

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

766

20 September 1915

Edward Sullivan
Anastasia Kavanagh

Edward Sullivan
Anastasia Kavanagh
💍 1915/4328

Widower 4.4.1911
Spinster

Painter

31
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 weeks
3 weeks

St. Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch

6529

20 September 1915

Rev. F. Hills R.C.

No	766
Date of Notice	20 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Sullivan	Anastasia Kavanagh
	💍 1915/4328
Condition	Widower 4.4.1911	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch
Folio	6529
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Hills R.C.

767

20 September 1915

Francis Gregory Healey
Elizabeth Jane Cassidy

Francis Gregory Healey
Elizabeth Jane Cassidy
💍 1915/4329

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

30
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
Life

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

6530

20 September 1915

Rev. J. Long R.C.

No	767
Date of Notice	20 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Gregory Healey	Elizabeth Jane Cassidy
	💍 1915/4329
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	Life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	6530
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Long R.C.

768

21 September 1915

Fredrick George Lewton
Rosa Fanny Louisa Hiddle

Fredrick George Leuton
Rosa Fanny Louisa Hiddle
💍 1915/4330

Bachelor
Widow 4.2.1913

Farmer

43
48

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 years

Anglican Church Burwood

6531

21 September 1915

Rev. C. A. Tobin Anglican

No	768
Date of Notice	21 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fredrick George Lewton	Rosa Fanny Louisa Hiddle
BDM Match (98%)	Fredrick George Leuton	Rosa Fanny Louisa Hiddle
	💍 1915/4330
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 4.2.1913
Profession	Farmer
Age	43	48
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Burwood
Folio	6531
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Tobin Anglican

769

21 September 1915

Albert George Hebden
Mabel Elizabeth White-Parsons

Albert George Hebden
Mabel Elizabeth White-Parsons
💍 1915/4331

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Accountant
Clerk

27
29

Christchurch
St. Albans

3 days
1 year

St. John's Church Christchurch

6532

21 September 1915

Rev. P. J. Cocks Anglican

No	769
Date of Notice	21 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert George Hebden	Mabel Elizabeth White-Parsons
	💍 1915/4331
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Accountant	Clerk
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	St. John's Church Christchurch
Folio	6532
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks Anglican

770

21 September 1915

John McMahon
Elizabeth Murray

John McMahon
Elizabeth Murray
💍 1915/4332

Bachelor
Spinster

Artificer R.N.Z.A.
Dressmaker

29
39

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
2 years

St. Mary's Church Manchester St. Christchurch

6533

21 September 1915

Rev. R. J. Hoare R.C.

No	770
Date of Notice	21 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McMahon	Elizabeth Murray
	💍 1915/4332
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Artificer R.N.Z.A.	Dressmaker
Age	29	39
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Manchester St. Christchurch
Folio	6533
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Hoare R.C.

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).