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 2368

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

444

2 June 1915

James Turkington
Nellie Collins

James Turkington
Nellie Collins
💍 1915/541

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent

31
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Methodist Parsonage, 54 Chester St. Christchurch

2618

2 June 1915

Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

No	444
Date of Notice	2 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Turkington	Nellie Collins
	💍 1915/541
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage, 54 Chester St. Christchurch
Folio	2618
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

445

2 June 1915

John Wells
Josephine Bloor

John Wells
Josephine Bloor
💍 1915/585

Widower June 8, 1914
Widow November 14, 1908.

Farmer

54
48

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
1 month

Methodist Church Cambridge Terrace Christchurch

2687

2 June 1915

Rev. B. Metson, Methodist

No	445
Date of Notice	2 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wells	Josephine Bloor
	💍 1915/585
Condition	Widower June 8, 1914	Widow November 14, 1908.
Profession	Farmer
Age	54	48
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Cambridge Terrace Christchurch
Folio	2687
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Metson, Methodist

446

2 June 1915

Edward Waldin Ussher
Ivy Bertha Hawkes

Edward Waldin Ussher
Ivy Bertha Hawker
💍 1915/13942

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
18 months

St. Saviour's Church Sydenham

2565

Order of Mr. Justice Denniston, dated 28th May, 1915.

2 June 1915

Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

No	446
Date of Notice	2 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Waldin Ussher	Ivy Bertha Hawkes
BDM Match (97%)	Edward Waldin Ussher	Ivy Bertha Hawker
	💍 1915/13942
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church Sydenham
Folio	2565
Consent	Order of Mr. Justice Denniston, dated 28th May, 1915.
Date of Certificate	2 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

447

2 June 1915

David Thomas Boyd
Lizzie Crawford

David Thomas Boyd
Lizzie Crawford
💍 1915/586

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
24

Christchurch
Belfast

3 days
10 years

Methodist Parsonage 22 Alexander St. Richmond

2688

2 June 1915

Rev. A. Liversedge, Methodist

No	447
Date of Notice	2 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Thomas Boyd	Lizzie Crawford
	💍 1915/586
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Belfast
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage 22 Alexander St. Richmond
Folio	2688
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Liversedge, Methodist

448

2 June 1915

Sydney John Mann
Maude Beatrice Russell

Sydney John Mann
Maude Beatrice Russell
💍 1915/9308

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Driver
Shop Assistant

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
5 years

St Paul's Church Christchurch

2514

2 June 1915

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	448
Date of Notice	2 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney John Mann	Maude Beatrice Russell
	💍 1915/9308
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Driver	Shop Assistant
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church Christchurch
Folio	2514
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, 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).