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 2342

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

314

10 April 1915

Clive Rolfe Henshall
Caroline Swain

Clive Rolfe Henshall
Caroline Swain
💍 1915/569

Bachelor
Spinster

Manufacturing Jeweller

22
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
6 months

St Augustine's Church Christchurch

2670

10 April 1915

Rev. F. R. Inwood, Anglican

No	314
Date of Notice	10 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clive Rolfe Henshall	Caroline Swain
	💍 1915/569
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manufacturing Jeweller
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St Augustine's Church Christchurch
Folio	2670
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. R. Inwood, Anglican

315

12 April 1915

Robert O'Shea
Eileen McSweeney

Robert O'Shea
Eileen McSweeney
💍 1915/9628

Bachelor
Spinster

French polisher
milliner

21
21

Sydenham
Christchurch

Life
Life

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

2484

12 April 1915

Rev. J. Long, Roman Catholic

No	315
Date of Notice	12 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert O'Shea	Eileen McSweeney
	💍 1915/9628
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	French polisher	milliner
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	2484
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Long, Roman Catholic

316

12 April 1915

Robert Henry Main
Margaret Ellen Barkley

Robert Henry Main
Margaret Ellen Bartley
💍 1915/9629

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Tailoress

31
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
14 years

St. Paul's Church Cashel St. Christchurch

2485

12 April 1915

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	316
Date of Notice	12 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Main	Margaret Ellen Barkley
BDM Match (98%)	Robert Henry Main	Margaret Ellen Bartley
	💍 1915/9629
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Tailoress
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Cashel St. Christchurch
Folio	2485
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

317

12 April 1915

Ebenezer Martin Mulligan
Anna Donnan

Ebenezer Martin Mulligan
Anna Donnan
💍 1915/494

Widower 6 October 1908
Widow 3 December 1904

Farmer

56
69

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
30 years

Residence of Mr. L Checkley 279 Worcester Street Christchurch

2544

12 April 1915

Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Methodist

No	317
Date of Notice	12 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ebenezer Martin Mulligan	Anna Donnan
	💍 1915/494
Condition	Widower 6 October 1908	Widow 3 December 1904
Profession	Farmer
Age	56	69
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	30 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. L Checkley 279 Worcester Street Christchurch
Folio	2544
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Methodist

318

12 April 1915

John Henry Caryvean
Beatrice Rundell Glasson

John Henry Edyveau
Beatrice Rundell Glasson
💍 1915/13913

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist

27
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
14 years

St John's Church Latimer Square Christchurch

2486

12 April 1915

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	318
Date of Notice	12 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Caryvean	Beatrice Rundell Glasson
BDM Match (89%)	John Henry Edyveau	Beatrice Rundell Glasson
	💍 1915/13913
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St John's Church Latimer Square Christchurch
Folio	2486
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, 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).