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 2304

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

126

15 February 1915

Ronald Macdonald
Catherine Mabel Annie Scott

Ronald Macdonald
Catherine Mabel Annie Scott
💍 1915/9102

Widower 29.4.1913
Spinster

Twine manufacturer

39
21

Kaiapoi
Christchurch

2 weeks

Anglican Church Kaiapoi

1331

15 February 1915

Rev. J. Holland, Anglican

No	126
Date of Notice	15 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ronald Macdonald	Catherine Mabel Annie Scott
	💍 1915/9102
Condition	Widower 29.4.1913	Spinster
Profession	Twine manufacturer
Age	39	21
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Christchurch
Length of Residence		2 weeks
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Kaiapoi
Folio	1331
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Holland, Anglican

127

15 February 1915

James Henry Lawler
Mary McGillicuddy

James Henry Lawler
Mary McGillicuddy
💍 1915/7886

Bachelor
Widow 13.4.1908

Farm manager
Dressmaker

32
33

St. Albans
Sydenham

3 days
7 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

1559

15 February 1915

Rev. J. W. Price, Roman Catholic

No	127
Date of Notice	15 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Lawler	Mary McGillicuddy
	💍 1915/7886
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 13.4.1908
Profession	Farm manager	Dressmaker
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	1559
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Price, Roman Catholic

128

15 February 1915

Leslie Robert Hanna
Mary Ann Dixon

Leslie Robert Hanna
Mary Ann Dixon
💍 1915/9230

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent
Dressmaker

21
23

Riccarton
Riccarton

8 years
23 years

St. Mary's Church Addington

1586

15 February 1915

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	128
Date of Notice	15 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Robert Hanna	Mary Ann Dixon
	💍 1915/9230
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent	Dressmaker
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	8 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Addington
Folio	1586
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

129

15 February 1915

Thomas Henry Swaney
Sarah Amelia Stock

Thomas Henry Swaney
Sarah Amelia Stock
💍 1915/9240

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

28
24

Addington
Spreydon

2 years
2 years

St. Saviour's Church Sydenham

1595

15 February 1915

Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

No	129
Date of Notice	15 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Swaney	Sarah Amelia Stock
	💍 1915/9240
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Addington	Spreydon
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church Sydenham
Folio	1595
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

130

15 February 1915

William John Harper Buchanan
Florence Lavina Grammer

William John Harper Buchanan
Florence Lavinia Grammer
💍 1915/9233

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Tailoress

25
21

Linwood
Sydenham

1 1/2 years
20 years

St. Mary's Church Addington

1589

15 February 1915

Rev. W. S. Bean, Addington

No	130
Date of Notice	15 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Harper Buchanan	Florence Lavina Grammer
BDM Match (98%)	William John Harper Buchanan	Florence Lavinia Grammer
	💍 1915/9233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Tailoress
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Sydenham
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Addington
Folio	1589
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Addington

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).