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 2408

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

636

7 August 1915

Leo Francis Mooney
Annie Catherine Sherlock

Leo Francis Mooney
Annie Catherine Sharlick
💍 1915/5292

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer

21
22

Marshland
Marshland

20 years
22 years

St. Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch

7584

7 August 1915

Rev. R. J. Hoare, Roman Catholic

No	636
Date of Notice	7 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leo Francis Mooney	Annie Catherine Sherlock
BDM Match (96%)	Leo Francis Mooney	Annie Catherine Sharlick
	💍 1915/5292
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Marshland	Marshland
Length of Residence	20 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch
Folio	7584
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Hoare, Roman Catholic

637

7 August 1915

John Harper
Henrietta Edmonston

John Harper
Henrietta Edmonston
💍 1915/5293

Widower 14 August 1912
Widow 12 October 1912

Carpenter
Storekeeper

61
49

Woolston
St. Albans

Life
9 years

St John's Church Woolston

7585

7 August 1915

Rev. H. N. Roberts, Anglican

No	637
Date of Notice	7 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Harper	Henrietta Edmonston
	💍 1915/5293
Condition	Widower 14 August 1912	Widow 12 October 1912
Profession	Carpenter	Storekeeper
Age	61	49
Dwelling Place	Woolston	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	9 years
Marriage Place	St John's Church Woolston
Folio	7585
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. N. Roberts, Anglican

638

7 August 1915

Alexander John Barber
Annie Louisa Thiele

Alexander John Barber
Annie Louisa Thiele
💍 1915/14573

Bachelor
Widow 26 July 1900

Storeman

33
44

Sydenham
Sydenham

2 years
5 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

4632

7 August 1915

Registrar

No	638
Date of Notice	7 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander John Barber	Annie Louisa Thiele
	💍 1915/14573
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 26 July 1900
Profession	Storeman
Age	33	44
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	4632
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

639

9 August 1915

George Ernest Hensley
Elizabeth Ann Mitchell

George Ernest Hensley
Elizabeth Ann Mitchell
💍 1915/14574

Bachelor
Widow 23 October 1913

Labourer

31
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 weeks
2 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

4633

9 August 1915

Registrar

No	639
Date of Notice	9 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ernest Hensley	Elizabeth Ann Mitchell
	💍 1915/14574
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 23 October 1913
Profession	Labourer
Age	31	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	4633
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

640

9 August 1915

Thomas Jesse Simpson
Decima Elizabeth Bartram

Thomas Jesse Gimson
Decima Elizabeth Bartram
💍 1915/4251

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

26
25

Lincoln
Lincoln

4 days
Life

St. Stephens Church Lincoln

6448

9 August 1915

Rev. F. B. Redgrave, Anglican

No	640
Date of Notice	9 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Jesse Simpson	Decima Elizabeth Bartram
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Jesse Gimson	Decima Elizabeth Bartram
	💍 1915/4251
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Lincoln	Lincoln
Length of Residence	4 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church Lincoln
Folio	6448
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. B. Redgrave, 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).