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 2356

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

384

11 May 1915

Thomas William Williams
Dora Alice Pierson

Thomas William Williams
Dora Alice Pierson
💍 1915/9891

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
Tailoress

31
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
Life

Registrar's Office Christchurch

2069

11 May 1915

Registrar

No	384
Date of Notice	11 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Williams	Dora Alice Pierson
	💍 1915/9891
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	Tailoress
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	2069
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

385

13 May 1915

Arthur Thomas
Mary Elizabeth Templeton

Arthur Thomas
Mary Elizabeth Templeton
💍 1915/599

Bachelor
Spinster

Artist in Stained glass

27
19

St Albans
St Albans

26 years
2 years

House of Mr. H. Thomas, 447 Madras St. Christchurch

2678

Rachel Nelson Mother

13 May 1915

Rev. C. E. Ward Methodist

No	385
Date of Notice	13 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Thomas	Mary Elizabeth Templeton
	💍 1915/599
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Artist in Stained glass
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	St Albans	St Albans
Length of Residence	26 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. H. Thomas, 447 Madras St. Christchurch
Folio	2678
Consent	Rachel Nelson Mother
Date of Certificate	13 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward Methodist

386

14 May 1915

George Leonard St. George
Elsie Nina Alexander

George Leonard St George
Elsie Nina Alexander
💍 1915/539

Bachelor
Spinster

Architect
Nurse

25
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 days
25 years Life

Residence of Mr. T. O. Alexander, 938 Colombo Street, Christchurch

2616

14 May 1915

Rev. P. Knight Methodist

No	386
Date of Notice	14 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Leonard St. George	Elsie Nina Alexander
BDM Match (98%)	George Leonard St George	Elsie Nina Alexander
	💍 1915/539
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Architect	Nurse
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 days	25 years Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. T. O. Alexander, 938 Colombo Street, Christchurch
Folio	2616
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Knight Methodist

387

14 May 1915

Leslie Green
Mary Bridget Fitzsimmons

Cecil Green
Mary Bridget Fitzsimmons
💍 1915/9321

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman N.Z.R.

27
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St. Christchurch

2503

14 May 1915

Rev. T. W. Price R.C.

No	387
Date of Notice	14 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Green	Mary Bridget Fitzsimmons
BDM Match (83%)	Cecil Green	Mary Bridget Fitzsimmons
	💍 1915/9321
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman N.Z.R.
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St. Christchurch
Folio	2503
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Price R.C.

388

14 May 1915

Sydney Lancelot Wright
Ruby Marian Barrett

Sydney Lancelot Wright
Ruby Marion Barrett
💍 1915/10681

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

28
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
10 years

St. Michael's Church Christchurch

3491

14 May 1915

Rev. H. D. Burton Anglican

No	388
Date of Notice	14 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Lancelot Wright	Ruby Marian Barrett
BDM Match (97%)	Sydney Lancelot Wright	Ruby Marion Barrett
	💍 1915/10681
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church Christchurch
Folio	3491
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. D. Burton 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).