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 2308

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

146

23 February 1915

George Wooller Jennings
Maud Frances Brazier-Creagh

George Wooller Jennings
Maud Frances Brazier-Creagh
💍 1915/379

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Expert

29
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
4 months

Registrar's Office Christchurch

187

23 February 1915

Registrar

No	146
Date of Notice	23 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wooller Jennings	Maud Frances Brazier-Creagh
	💍 1915/379
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Expert
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	187
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

147

24 February 1915

George Arnold
Elizabeth Bell

George Arnold
Elizabeth Bell
💍 1915/12204

Widower 7.2.1914
Spinster

Builder & Contractor

57
41

Spreydon
Spreydon

5 weeks
35 years

Methodist Church Cor. Colombo & Brougham St. Sydenham

1661

26 February 1915

Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

No	147
Date of Notice	24 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Arnold	Elizabeth Bell
	💍 1915/12204
Condition	Widower 7.2.1914	Spinster
Profession	Builder & Contractor
Age	57	41
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	5 weeks	35 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Cor. Colombo & Brougham St. Sydenham
Folio	1661
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

148

24 February 1915

George Hargreaves Richardson
Edith Alice Freeman

George Hargreaves Richardson
Edith Alice Freeman
💍 1915/9245

Widower 23.2.1912
Spinster

Audit Officer

36
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
29 years

St. Augustine's Church Cashmere

1600

24 February 1915

Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

No	148
Date of Notice	24 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hargreaves Richardson	Edith Alice Freeman
	💍 1915/9245
Condition	Widower 23.2.1912	Spinster
Profession	Audit Officer
Age	36	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church Cashmere
Folio	1600
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

149

24 February 1915

William Joseph Jones
Maud Caroline Shadbolt

William Joseph Jones
Maud Caroline Shadbolt
💍 1915/9366

Widower 21.8.1906
Spinster

Labourer

40
23

Richmond
St. Albans

40 years
23 years

House of Mr. Shadbolt, 91 Dover St. St. Albans

1696

24 February 1915

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	149
Date of Notice	24 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Joseph Jones	Maud Caroline Shadbolt
	💍 1915/9366
Condition	Widower 21.8.1906	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	40	23
Dwelling Place	Richmond	St. Albans
Length of Residence	40 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Shadbolt, 91 Dover St. St. Albans
Folio	1696
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

150

24 February 1915

John Mackenzie
Ella Beatrice Orchard

John MacKenzie
Ella Beatrice Orchard
💍 1915/8902

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

24
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
1 week

House of Rev. J. Paterson, 30 Latimer Square Christchurch

704

24 February 1915

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	150
Date of Notice	24 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mackenzie	Ella Beatrice Orchard
BDM Match (96%)	John MacKenzie	Ella Beatrice Orchard
	💍 1915/8902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Paterson, 30 Latimer Square Christchurch
Folio	704
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 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).