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 2306

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

136

18 February 1915

Henry Alfred Leslie Vale
Gladys Grace Bates

Henry Alfred Leslie Vale
Gladys Grace Bates
💍 1915/1518

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Saleswoman

26
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
26 years

St. Michaels Church, Christchurch

3488

18 February 1915

Rev. H.H. Burton, Anglican

No	136
Date of Notice	18 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Alfred Leslie Vale	Gladys Grace Bates
	💍 1915/1518
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Saleswoman
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	26 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church, Christchurch
Folio	3488
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.H. Burton, Anglican

137

18 February 1915

Wilfred John Wills
Joy Irene Scott Jamieson

Wilfred John Wills
Joy Irene Scott Jamieson
💍 1915/9229

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

32
22

Addington
Sydenham

7 years
22 years

St. Marys Church, Addington

1585

18 February 1915

Rev. W.A. Bean, Anglican

No	137
Date of Notice	18 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilfred John Wills	Joy Irene Scott Jamieson
	💍 1915/9229
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Addington	Sydenham
Length of Residence	7 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Marys Church, Addington
Folio	1585
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W.A. Bean, Anglican

138

19 February 1915

John Chilton
Mary Isabel Johnston

John Chilton
Mary Isabel Johnston
💍 1915/8895

Bachelor
Spinster

Herdsman
Dressmaker

34
24

Sunnyside
Middleton

5 years
10 years

St. Pauls Church, Christchurch

703

19 February 1915

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	138
Date of Notice	19 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Chilton	Mary Isabel Johnston
	💍 1915/8895
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Herdsman	Dressmaker
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Sunnyside	Middleton
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church, Christchurch
Folio	703
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

139

20 February 1915

William Williamson Pitcaithly
Edith Rutledge

William Williamson Piteaithly
Edith Rutledge
💍 1915/9367

Bachelor
Spinster

Public Accountant

31
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
7 years

Knox Church, Christchurch

1697

20 February 1915

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	139
Date of Notice	20 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Williamson Pitcaithly	Edith Rutledge
BDM Match (98%)	William Williamson Piteaithly	Edith Rutledge
	💍 1915/9367
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Public Accountant
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Christchurch
Folio	1697
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

140

20 February 1915

James Fowler Plank
Caroline Julia Townshend

James Fowler Plank
Caroline Julia Townshend
💍 1915/7887

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Machinist

29
25

Woolston
Sydenham

28 years
15 years

St. Johns Church, Christchurch

1601

20 February 1915

Rev. P.J. Cocks, Anglican

No	140
Date of Notice	20 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Fowler Plank	Caroline Julia Townshend
	💍 1915/7887
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Machinist
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Sydenham
Length of Residence	28 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church, Christchurch
Folio	1601
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 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).