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 2380

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

504

18 June 1915

Duncan Forrest Bauchop
Marion Rhoda Raphael

Duncan Forrest Bauchop
Marion Rhoda Raphael
💍 1915/9484

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanical Engineer

30
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
24 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

2091

18 June 1915

Registrar

No	504
Date of Notice	18 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Forrest Bauchop	Marion Rhoda Raphael
	💍 1915/9484
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanical Engineer
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	2091
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

505

18 June 1915

David Wilson McIlroy
Beatrice Mary Smith

David Wilson McLlroy
Beatrice Mary Smith
💍 1915/592

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
24

Cashmere Hills
Sydenham

2 years
Life

Residence of Mr E. Smith, 22 Thackeray Street Sydenham

2694

18 June 1915

Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

No	505
Date of Notice	18 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Wilson McIlroy	Beatrice Mary Smith
BDM Match (98%)	David Wilson McLlroy	Beatrice Mary Smith
	💍 1915/592
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Cashmere Hills	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr E. Smith, 22 Thackeray Street Sydenham
Folio	2694
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

506

21 June 1915

Arthur James Theodore Withers
Eileen May Ferguson

Arthur James Theodore Withers
Eileen May Ferguson
💍 1915/425

Arthur James Theodore Withers
Eileen May Ferguson
💍 1915/594

Previously married at Christchurch on March 23 1915

Teacher
Typist

22
21

Sumner
Sumner

2 years
11 years

St. Paul's Methodist Church Sumner

2695

21 June 1915

Rev. W. J. Williams, Methodist

No	506
Date of Notice	21 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur James Theodore Withers	Eileen May Ferguson
	💍 1915/425
	💍 1915/594
Condition	Previously married at Christchurch on March 23 1915
Profession	Teacher	Typist
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Sumner	Sumner
Length of Residence	2 years	11 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Methodist Church Sumner
Folio	2695
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Williams, Methodist

507

21 June 1915

Edward Joseph Donovan
Elizabeth Ann Roberts

Edward Joseph Donovan
Elizabeth Ann Roberts
💍 1915/11617

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant
Shop Assistant

25
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
Life

Residence of Mr J. W. Roberts 31 Stevens Street Sydenham

2696

21 June 1915

Rev. H. A. Job, Congregational

No	507
Date of Notice	21 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Joseph Donovan	Elizabeth Ann Roberts
	💍 1915/11617
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant	Shop Assistant
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J. W. Roberts 31 Stevens Street Sydenham
Folio	2696
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Job, Congregational

508

22 June 1915

Edward Thomas Bickerstaff
Agnes Mabel Freeman

Edward Thomas Bickerstaff
Agnes Mabel Freeman
💍 1915/548

Divorced May 24 1911
Divorced February 18 1915

Plasterer

33
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
4 years

Methodist Parsonage 54 Chester Street Christchurch

2624

22 June 1915

Rev. P. N. Knight, Methodist

No	508
Date of Notice	22 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Thomas Bickerstaff	Agnes Mabel Freeman
	💍 1915/548
Condition	Divorced May 24 1911	Divorced February 18 1915
Profession	Plasterer
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage 54 Chester Street Christchurch
Folio	2624
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. N. Knight, Methodist

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).