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 2312

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

166

3 March 1915

Arthur John Rose
Katherine Gallagher

Arthur John Rose
Katherine Gallagher
💍 1915/389

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

33
21

Richmond
Richmond

8 months
5 months

Registrar's Office Christchurch

196

2 March 1915

Registrar

No	166
Date of Notice	3 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Rose	Katherine Gallagher
	💍 1915/389
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Richmond
Length of Residence	8 months	5 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	196
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

167

3 March 1915

Leslie Norman Montgomery
Hilda Ruth Small

Leslie Norman Montgomery
Hilda Ruth Small
💍 1915/12208

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Engineer
Dressmaker

25
22

Richmond
St. Albans

4 years
13 years

Church of England Burwood

1665

3 March 1915

Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

No	167
Date of Notice	3 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Norman Montgomery	Hilda Ruth Small
	💍 1915/12208
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Engineer	Dressmaker
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Richmond	St. Albans
Length of Residence	4 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Burwood
Folio	1665
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

168

3 March 1915

Charles Walker Laird
Tamson Alinda Briscoe

Charles Walker Laird
Tamson Alinda Briscoe
💍 1915/8904

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer's Buyer
Waitress

30
26

Christchurch
Fendalton Christchurch

5 years
8 years

St. Paul's Church Manse, Latimer Square, Christchurch

706

3 March 1915

Rev. J. Paterson (Presbyterian)

No	168
Date of Notice	3 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Walker Laird	Tamson Alinda Briscoe
	💍 1915/8904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer's Buyer	Waitress
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Fendalton Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Manse, Latimer Square, Christchurch
Folio	706
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson (Presbyterian)

169

4 March 1915

Horace Williamson Lane
Mary Ann O'Brien

Horace Williamson Laux
Mary Ann O'Brien
💍 1915/7884

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman
Dressmaker

24
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 weeks
2 weeks

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

1557

4 March 1915

Rev. F. B. Seward, Roman Catholic

No	169
Date of Notice	4 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace Williamson Lane	Mary Ann O'Brien
BDM Match (95%)	Horace Williamson Laux	Mary Ann O'Brien
	💍 1915/7884
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman	Dressmaker
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	1557
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. B. Seward, Roman Catholic

170

5 March 1915

Leonard Lowthian Wilson
Marguerite Murray Watson

Leonard Lowthian Wilson
Margurite Murray Watson
💍 1915/9373

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

32
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
4 days

St. Mary's Church Addington

1680

5 March 1915

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	170
Date of Notice	5 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Lowthian Wilson	Marguerite Murray Watson
BDM Match (98%)	Leonard Lowthian Wilson	Margurite Murray Watson
	💍 1915/9373
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Addington
Folio	1680
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).