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 2376

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

484

12 June 1915

Johnson Mayfield
Edith Maude Virtue

Johnson Mayfield
Edith Maude Virtue
💍 1915/730

Bachelor
Spinster

Government Employee
Storekeeper

22
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
Life

Salvation Army Hall, Linwood

2716

12 June 1915

Staff Captain Newby, Salvation Army

No	484
Date of Notice	12 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Johnson Mayfield	Edith Maude Virtue
	💍 1915/730
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Government Employee	Storekeeper
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	Life
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Hall, Linwood
Folio	2716
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Staff Captain Newby, Salvation Army

485

12 June 1915

James Atkinson
Jane Elizabeth Vayro

James Atkinson
Jane Elizabeth Vayro
💍 1915/767

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

38
33

Woolston
Woolston

3 years
3 weeks

St John's Church, Woolston

2780

12 June 1915

Rev. H. N. Roberts, Anglican

No	485
Date of Notice	12 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Atkinson	Jane Elizabeth Vayro
	💍 1915/767
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	38	33
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	3 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St John's Church, Woolston
Folio	2780
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. N. Roberts, Anglican

486

12 June 1915

Arthur William Lane
Louisa Wilkinson

Arthur William Lane
Louisa Wilkinson
💍 1915/704

Widower Feb. 18, 1912
Widow December 1913.

Orchardist

49
42

Papanui
Merivale

30 years
20 years

St Paul's Church, Papanui

2640

12 June 1915

Rev. W. H. Orbell, Anglican

No	486
Date of Notice	12 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Lane	Louisa Wilkinson
	💍 1915/704
Condition	Widower Feb. 18, 1912	Widow December 1913.
Profession	Orchardist
Age	49	42
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Merivale
Length of Residence	30 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church, Papanui
Folio	2640
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Orbell, Anglican

487

14 June 1915

William John Newton
Roberta Christina Flaws Mitchell

William John Newton
Roberta Christina Flaus Mitchell
💍 1915/14043

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Teacher

42
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
6 years

St Paul's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch

2693

14 June 1915

Rev. F. Rule, Presbyterian

No	487
Date of Notice	14 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Newton	Roberta Christina Flaws Mitchell
BDM Match (98%)	William John Newton	Roberta Christina Flaus Mitchell
	💍 1915/14043
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Teacher
Age	42	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	6 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch
Folio	2693
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Rule, Presbyterian

488

14 June 1915

Arthur Albert O'Donnell
Elizabeth Kidd

Arthur Albert O'Donnell
Elizabeth Kidd
💍 1915/9311

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable
Dressmaker

28
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
4 months

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

2517

14 June 1915

Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	488
Date of Notice	14 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Albert O'Donnell	Elizabeth Kidd
	💍 1915/9311
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable	Dressmaker
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	2517
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

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).