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 2198

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 December 1915 Registrar E. W. Cave

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

2 November 1915

Roy Lionel Pritchard Hales
Ivy Lilian Williams

Roy Lionel Pritchard Hales
Ivy Lilian Williams
💍 1915/14719

Bachelor
Spinster

Dredge Hand
Domestic Duties

23
15

Nelson Creek, Greymouth
Nelson Creek, Greymouth

8 months
15 years 3 days

Registrar's Office, Greymouth

9497

Henry Edward Williams, Father.

2 November 1915

Registrar of Marriages

No	55
Date of Notice	2 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Roy Lionel Pritchard Hales	Ivy Lilian Williams
	💍 1915/14719
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dredge Hand	Domestic Duties
Age	23	15
Dwelling Place	Nelson Creek, Greymouth	Nelson Creek, Greymouth
Length of Residence	8 months	15 years 3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Greymouth
Folio	9497
Consent	Henry Edward Williams, Father.
Date of Certificate	2 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

6 November 1915

John McFarlane
Ellen Rubina Wallace

John McFarlane
Ellen Rubina Wallace
💍 1915/7500

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
Domestic

38
39

Kumara, Greymouth
Kumara, Greymouth

2 years 4 days
37 years 4 days

Dwelling of Mr Thomas Anton, Cobden

9974

6 November 1915

Rev. J. A. Rogers

No	56
Date of Notice	6 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McFarlane	Ellen Rubina Wallace
	💍 1915/7500
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	38	39
Dwelling Place	Kumara, Greymouth	Kumara, Greymouth
Length of Residence	2 years 4 days	37 years 4 days
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr Thomas Anton, Cobden
Folio	9974
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Rogers

8 November 1915

John Richard Edward Hahn
Jeannie Hocking

John Richard Edward Hahn
Jeannie Hocking
💍 1915/7501

Bachelor
Widow

Fireman on locomotive
Domestic

31
37

Ru Ru, Greymouth
Ru Ru, Greymouth

12 months 3 days
7 years 4 days

Residence of Mr John Hahn, Baxter's Siding

9975

8 November 1915

Rev. E. D. Patchett

No	57
Date of Notice	8 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Richard Edward Hahn	Jeannie Hocking
	💍 1915/7501
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Fireman on locomotive	Domestic
Age	31	37
Dwelling Place	Ru Ru, Greymouth	Ru Ru, Greymouth
Length of Residence	12 months 3 days	7 years 4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr John Hahn, Baxter's Siding
Folio	9975
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. D. Patchett

13 November 1915

James Ashurst
Jane Coulthard

James Ashurst
Jane Coulthard
💍 1915/14723

Bachelor
Spinster

Pump Attendant
Domestic

26
21

Runanga
Runanga

5 years
5 years

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

9501

13 November 1915

Rev. J. A. Rogers

No	58
Date of Notice	13 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Ashurst	Jane Coulthard
	💍 1915/14723
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pump Attendant	Domestic
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Runanga	Runanga
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	9501
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Rogers

13 November 1915

John Joseph Keating
Catherine Patricia Greaney

John Joseph Keating
Catherine Patricia Greaney
💍 1916/3861

Bachelor
Spinster

Store Manager
Domestic

31
27

Greymouth
Greymouth

31 years
27 years

St. Patrick's Church, Greymouth

1061

13 November 1915

Rev. J. Fraher

No	59
Date of Notice	13 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph Keating	Catherine Patricia Greaney
	💍 1916/3861
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Store Manager	Domestic
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	31 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Greymouth
Folio	1061
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Fraher

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).