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 2390

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

546

03 July 1915

Robert James Marshall
Janet Louise Mitchell

Robert James Marshall
Janet Louise Mitchell
💍 1915/4381

Widower, March 21 1911
Spinster

Mechanic
Schoolmistress

35
33

Christchurch
Dunedin

6 months

Jackson's Tea Rooms, Dowling St., Dunedin

6558

03 July 1915

Rev. J. R. Orr, Presbyterian

No	546
Date of Notice	03 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Marshall	Janet Louise Mitchell
	💍 1915/4381
Condition	Widower, March 21 1911	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic	Schoolmistress
Age	35	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 months
Marriage Place	Jackson's Tea Rooms, Dowling St., Dunedin
Folio	6558
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Orr, Presbyterian

547

03 July 1915

James Thomas Warburton
Elvira Jane Lewin

Thomas Warburton
Elvila Jane Lewin
💍 1915/4188

Bachelor
Spinster

Musical Plate maker

29
27

Christchurch
St Albans

2 years
9 months

St Marks Church, Opawa

6386

03 July 1915

Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

No	547
Date of Notice	03 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas Warburton	Elvira Jane Lewin
BDM Match (83%)	Thomas Warburton	Elvila Jane Lewin
	💍 1915/4188
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Musical Plate maker
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St Albans
Length of Residence	2 years	9 months
Marriage Place	St Marks Church, Opawa
Folio	6386
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

548

05 July 1915

John Lawson Turnbull
Vera Holm Biss

John Lawson Turnbull
Vera Holm Biss
💍 1915/4189

Bachelor
Spinster

Lieutenant 1st Canterbury Regiment

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
7 years

St Mary's Church, Merivale

6387

05 July 1915

Rev. C. H. Gosset, Anglican

No	548
Date of Notice	05 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lawson Turnbull	Vera Holm Biss
	💍 1915/4189
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lieutenant 1st Canterbury Regiment
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Merivale
Folio	6387
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Gosset, Anglican

549

05 July 1915

Christopher Francis Cotter
Mary Hanna

Christopher Francis Cotter
Mary Hanna
💍 1915/4190

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician
Milliner

26
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
Life

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

6388

05 July 1915

Rev. M. O'Boyle, R.C.

No	549
Date of Notice	05 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher Francis Cotter	Mary Hanna
	💍 1915/4190
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician	Milliner
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	Life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	6388
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. O'Boyle, R.C.

550

05 July 1915

John Henry Clark
Ethel Mary Ramsay

John Henry Clark
Ethel Mary Ramsay
💍 1915/4191

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman N.Z. Railways
Clerk

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
12 years

Salvation Army Hall, Fitzgerald Avenue, Linwood

6389

05 July 1915

Major S Newby, Salvation Army

No	550
Date of Notice	05 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Clark	Ethel Mary Ramsay
	💍 1915/4191
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman N.Z. Railways	Clerk
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	12 years
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Hall, Fitzgerald Avenue, Linwood
Folio	6389
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Major S Newby, Salvation Army

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).