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 2266

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar William Winsbury White

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

14 August 1915

Basil Russell Purvis-Russell Montgomery
Amelia Alice Richards

Basil Russell Purvis-Russell-Montgomery
Amelia Alice Richards
💍 1915/3982

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic duties

30
25

Mayfield
Timaru

7 years
7 years

St Mary's Church of England Timaru

6178

14 August 1915

Archdeacon Jacob

No	52
Date of Notice	14 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Basil Russell Purvis-Russell Montgomery	Amelia Alice Richards
BDM Match (99%)	Basil Russell Purvis-Russell-Montgomery	Amelia Alice Richards
	💍 1915/3982
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Mayfield	Timaru
Length of Residence	7 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church of England Timaru
Folio	6178
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Jacob

16 August 1915

Harry Childs
Emma Cooper

Harry Childs
Emma Cowper
💍 1915/3866

Widower
Widow

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

63
60

Ashburton
Ashburton

30 years
1 month

St Stephen's Church of England Ashburton

6084

16 August 1915

Rev. J. R. Burgin

No	53
Date of Notice	16 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Childs	Emma Cooper
BDM Match (95%)	Harry Childs	Emma Cowper
	💍 1915/3866
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	63	60
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	30 years	1 month
Marriage Place	St Stephen's Church of England Ashburton
Folio	6084
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Burgin

17 August 1915

Albert Ernest Frew
Marion Letham

Albert Ernest Frew
Marion Letham
💍 1915/3867

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic duties

27
24

Methven
Allenton

3 days
5 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton

6085

17 August 1915

Rev. George Miller

No	54
Date of Notice	17 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Ernest Frew	Marion Letham
	💍 1915/3867
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Methven	Allenton
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton
Folio	6085
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller

30 August 1915

Godfrey Leonard Clarke
Harriet Ethel Betts

Godfrey Leonard Clarke
Harriett Ethel Betts
💍 1915/5650

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

34
23

Fairton
Hampstead

2 years
23 years

St Stephen's Church of England Ashburton

7919

30 August 1915

Rev. J. R. Burgin

No	55
Date of Notice	30 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Godfrey Leonard Clarke	Harriet Ethel Betts
BDM Match (98%)	Godfrey Leonard Clarke	Harriett Ethel Betts
	💍 1915/5650
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Fairton	Hampstead
Length of Residence	2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St Stephen's Church of England Ashburton
Folio	7919
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Burgin

7 September 1915

Percy Gerald Reichard
Elsie Maud Bonnington

Percy Gerald Rickard
Elsie Maud Bonnington
💍 1915/3863

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

31
30

Riverside
Ashburton

31 years
30 years

Baring Square Church Ashburton

6081

7 September 1915

Rev. W. J. Elliott

No	56
Date of Notice	7 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Gerald Reichard	Elsie Maud Bonnington
BDM Match (95%)	Percy Gerald Rickard	Elsie Maud Bonnington
	💍 1915/3863
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Riverside	Ashburton
Length of Residence	31 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Baring Square Church Ashburton
Folio	6081
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Elliott

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).