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 2302

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

116

10 February 1915

Robert McLeod Crump
Annie Evelyn May Brown

Robert McLeod Crump
Annie Evelyn May Brown
💍 1915/377

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver

31
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
8 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

185

10 February 1915

Registrar

No	116
Date of Notice	10 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McLeod Crump	Annie Evelyn May Brown
	💍 1915/377
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	8 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	185
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

117

10 February 1915

Alexander William Booth Healey
Elizabeth Catherine Thomas

Alexander William Booth Healey
Elizabeth Catherine Thomas
💍 1915/9232

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

24
25

Christchurch
Riccarton

6 months
5 months

Residence of Rev. WA Sinclair, 173 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

1588

10 February 1915

Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Methodist

No	117
Date of Notice	10 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander William Booth Healey	Elizabeth Catherine Thomas
	💍 1915/9232
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	6 months	5 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. WA Sinclair, 173 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	1588
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Methodist

118

10 February 1915

Donald McKenzie
Edith Mary Wilhelmina Carollo Kiesel

Donald McKenzie
Edith Mary Wilhelmina Eades Kissel
💍 1915/640

Donald McKenzie
Lily Jane Crozier
💍 1915/9348

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

37
41

Alford Forest
Christchurch

35 years
6 years

Anglican Church Springburn, Woolston

2768

10 February 1915

Rev. H. N. Roberts, Anglican

No	118
Date of Notice	10 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald McKenzie	Edith Mary Wilhelmina Carollo Kiesel
BDM Match (90%)	Donald McKenzie	Edith Mary Wilhelmina Eades Kissel
	💍 1915/640
BDM Match (64%)	Donald McKenzie	Lily Jane Crozier
	💍 1915/9348
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	37	41
Dwelling Place	Alford Forest	Christchurch
Length of Residence	35 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Springburn, Woolston
Folio	2768
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. N. Roberts, Anglican

119

11 February 1915

Alexander Scott
Margaret Grace Mills

Alexander Scott
Margaret Grace Mills
💍 1915/937

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

30
23

Addington
Linwood

8 years
5 years

Church of Good Shepherd, Phillipstown

3023

11 February 1915

Rev. H. G. Ensor, Anglican

No	119
Date of Notice	11 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Scott	Margaret Grace Mills
	💍 1915/937
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Addington	Linwood
Length of Residence	8 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of Good Shepherd, Phillipstown
Folio	3023
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Ensor, Anglican

120

11 February 1915

James Davis
Margaret Rogers

James Davis
Margret Rogers
💍 1915/7906

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
24

Linwood
Linwood

1 year
2 years

St. Peters Church, Woolston

1604

11 February 1915

Rev. J. H. McDonald, Presbyterian

No	120
Date of Notice	11 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Davis	Margaret Rogers
BDM Match (97%)	James Davis	Margret Rogers
	💍 1915/7906
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Peters Church, Woolston
Folio	1604
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. McDonald, 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).