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 2354

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

374

6 May 1915

Arthur John Grimwood
Adeline Florence Gray

Arthur John Grimwood
Adeline Florence Gray
💍 1915/733

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 days
5 weeks

Residence of Mr Donnelly, 187 Barbadoes Street Christchurch

2719

H. Soare formerly Gray Mother

6 May 1915

Rev. B. Metson, Methodist

No	374
Date of Notice	6 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Grimwood	Adeline Florence Gray
	💍 1915/733
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Donnelly, 187 Barbadoes Street Christchurch
Folio	2719
Consent	H. Soare formerly Gray Mother
Date of Certificate	6 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Metson, Methodist

375

6 May 1915

John Ealam
Edith Maude Gay

John Ealam
Edith Maude Gay
💍 1915/13978

Bachelor
Divorced Decree Absolute 5 May 1915

Labourer

36
35

Opawa
Opawa

9 months
9 months

House of Miss Gay, 57 Barbour St. Opawa

2550

6 May 1915

Rev. T. McDonald, Presbyterian

No	375
Date of Notice	6 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ealam	Edith Maude Gay
	💍 1915/13978
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced Decree Absolute 5 May 1915
Profession	Labourer
Age	36	35
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Opawa
Length of Residence	9 months	9 months
Marriage Place	House of Miss Gay, 57 Barbour St. Opawa
Folio	2550
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. McDonald, Presbyterian

376

7 May 1915

Lawrence Edward Gilbert
Grace Sophia Gilkes

Lawrence Edward Gilbert
Grace Sophia Gilkes
💍 1915/706

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Typiste

28
23

Harewood
St. Albans

5 weeks
3 years

St. Matthew's Church St. Albans

2642

7 May 1915

Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

No	376
Date of Notice	7 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Edward Gilbert	Grace Sophia Gilkes
	💍 1915/706
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Typiste
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Harewood	St. Albans
Length of Residence	5 weeks	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church St. Albans
Folio	2642
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

377

7 May 1915

Albert Edward Purse
Eunice Isabel Buchanan

Albert Edward Purse
Eunice Isabel Buchanan
💍 1915/9313

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

30
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
6 years

St. John's Church Christchurch

2501

7 May 1915

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	377
Date of Notice	7 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Purse	Eunice Isabel Buchanan
	💍 1915/9313
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church Christchurch
Folio	2501
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

378

7 May 1915

John Reginald Lewis Simpson
Eleanor Charnley

John Reginald Lewis Simpson
Eleanor Charnley
💍 1915/2851

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Schoolteacher

28
27

Redcliffs
Redcliffs

5 years
3 days

All Saints Church Sumner

4735

7 May 1915

Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

No	378
Date of Notice	7 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Reginald Lewis Simpson	Eleanor Charnley
	💍 1915/2851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Schoolteacher
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Redcliffs	Redcliffs
Length of Residence	5 years	3 days
Marriage Place	All Saints Church Sumner
Folio	4735
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams, 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).