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 2012

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 December 1915 Registrar C. G. Morrison

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

19 October 1915

William Arthur Tapp
Ivy May Smith

William Arthur Tapp
Ivy May Smith
💍 1915/7426

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

27
21

Tua Marina
Tua Marina

5 days
9 years

Mr. C. W. Bothams Residence, Tua Marina

15/9942

19 October 1915

Rev. A. A. Armstrong, Presbyterian

No	54
Date of Notice	19 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Tapp	Ivy May Smith
	💍 1915/7426
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Tua Marina	Tua Marina
Length of Residence	5 days	9 years
Marriage Place	Mr. C. W. Bothams Residence, Tua Marina
Folio	15/9942
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. A. Armstrong, Presbyterian

20 October 1915

George Henry Galpin
Elspit Grant Murdoch

George Henry Galpin
Elspit Grant Murdoch
💍 1915/6968

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor mechanic
Domestic

26
29

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
4 weeks

St. Andrews Church, Blenheim

15/9402

20 October 1915

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	55
Date of Notice	20 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Galpin	Elspit Grant Murdoch
	💍 1915/6968
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor mechanic	Domestic
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	4 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Blenheim
Folio	15/9402
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

23 October 1915

Allan Joseph Gledhill
Frances Emma Hayward

Allan Joseph Gledhill
Frances Emma Heyward
💍 1915/6955

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

25
20

Tua Marina
Blenheim

4 years
20 years

Mr R. Haywards residence, Blenheim

15/9390

Richard Hayward Father

23 October 1915

Ven Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

No	56
Date of Notice	23 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Joseph Gledhill	Frances Emma Hayward
BDM Match (98%)	Allan Joseph Gledhill	Frances Emma Heyward
	💍 1915/6955
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Tua Marina	Blenheim
Length of Residence	4 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Mr R. Haywards residence, Blenheim
Folio	15/9390
Consent	Richard Hayward Father
Date of Certificate	23 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Ven Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

26 October 1915

Henry Todd
Ivy Veronica Horgan

Henry Todd
Joy Veronica Horgan
💍 1915/6958

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi proprietor
Music teacher

27
24

Blenheim
Tua Marina

6 days
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tua Marina

15/9393

26 October 1915

Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic

No	57
Date of Notice	26 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Todd	Ivy Veronica Horgan
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Todd	Joy Veronica Horgan
	💍 1915/6958
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi proprietor	Music teacher
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Tua Marina
Length of Residence	6 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tua Marina
Folio	15/9393
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic

30 October 1915

Edward Albert Schwass
Mary Ann Elsmore

Edward Albert Schwass
Mary Ann Elsmore
💍 1915/6954

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm labourer
Domestic

26
26

Blenheim
Blenheim

10 months
26 years

Mr. C. Andrell's Dwelling, Grovetown

15/9389

30 October 1915

Rev. W. Wollstein, Church of England

No	58
Date of Notice	30 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Albert Schwass	Mary Ann Elsmore
	💍 1915/6954
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm labourer	Domestic
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	10 months	26 years
Marriage Place	Mr. C. Andrell's Dwelling, Grovetown
Folio	15/9389
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Wollstein, Church of England

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).