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 2332

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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

766

30 March 1915

John Stirling Alexander
Lizzie Jane Woods

John Stirling Alexander
Lizzie Jane Woods
💍 1915/8908

Bachelor
Spinster

moulder
Tailoress

33
28

Sydenham
Spreydon

32 yrs
3 yrs

St Andrews church Christchurch

710

30 March 1915

Rev J. Paterson Presbyterian

No	766
Date of Notice	30 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stirling Alexander	Lizzie Jane Woods
	💍 1915/8908
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	moulder	Tailoress
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Spreydon
Length of Residence	32 yrs	3 yrs
Marriage Place	St Andrews church Christchurch
Folio	710
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Paterson Presbyterian

767

30 March 1915

Hugh Manson
Laura Connell

Hugh Manson
Laura Connell
💍 1915/560

widower June 10, 1914
Spinster

Labourer
-

56
46

Hornby
Hornby

16 years
4 years

Mr. Thomas Hill's dwelling Hornby

2662

30 March 1915

Rev H. H. Rodger Presbyterian

No	767
Date of Notice	30 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Manson	Laura Connell
	💍 1915/560
Condition	widower June 10, 1914	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	-
Age	56	46
Dwelling Place	Hornby	Hornby
Length of Residence	16 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Thomas Hill's dwelling Hornby
Folio	2662
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev H. H. Rodger Presbyterian

768

30 March 1915

John William Vincent
Sarah Ann Fonseca

John William Vincent
Sarah Ann Fonseca
💍 1915/9364

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
-

20
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 yrs
2 yrs

House of Rev F. Rule Richmond Terrace Christchurch

1694

30 March 1915

Rev F. Rule Presbyterian

No	768
Date of Notice	30 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Vincent	Sarah Ann Fonseca
	💍 1915/9364
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	-
Age	20	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 yrs	2 yrs
Marriage Place	House of Rev F. Rule Richmond Terrace Christchurch
Folio	1694
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev F. Rule Presbyterian

769

30 March 1915

Edmond Arbuckle
Ada Margaret Hatherley

Edmond Arbuckle
Ada Margaret Hatherley
💍 1915/8126

widower June 13, 1907
Spinster

Waterside worker
-

45
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 months
8 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

2049

30 March 1915

Registrar

No	769
Date of Notice	30 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmond Arbuckle	Ada Margaret Hatherley
	💍 1915/8126
Condition	widower June 13, 1907	Spinster
Profession	Waterside worker	-
Age	45	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	8 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	2049
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

770

31 March 1915

Edwin John Elliott
Bethia Espie Halliburton

Edwin John Elliott
Bethia Espie Halliburton
💍 1915/8885

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Hand
Dressmaker

29
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
35 years

St Paul's manse Christchurch

711

31 March 1915

Rev J. Paterson Presbyterian

No	770
Date of Notice	31 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin John Elliott	Bethia Espie Halliburton
	💍 1915/8885
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Hand	Dressmaker
Age	29	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	35 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's manse Christchurch
Folio	711
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 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).