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 2004

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 June 1915 Registrar W. O. Townson

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

9 June 1915

Arthur John Pitcher
Mary Burns Sneddon

Arthur John Pitcher
Mary Barns Sneddon
💍 1915/4538

Bachelor
Spinster

Overseer Public Works Department
Domestic

28
27

Blenheim
Okatuku

11 months
11 years

Mr. W. Sneddon's Residence, Okatuku, Waverley

15/6763

9 June 1915

Rev. Donald McIvor, Presbyterian

No	31
Date of Notice	9 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Pitcher	Mary Burns Sneddon
BDM Match (97%)	Arthur John Pitcher	Mary Barns Sneddon
	💍 1915/4538
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Overseer Public Works Department	Domestic
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Okatuku
Length of Residence	11 months	11 years
Marriage Place	Mr. W. Sneddon's Residence, Okatuku, Waverley
Folio	15/6763
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Donald McIvor, Presbyterian

16 June 1915

Thomas Richard Hutchinson
Violet Hilda Wells

Thomas Richard Hutchinson
Violet Hilda Wells
💍 1915/1966

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic

34
28

Blenheim
Blenheim

4 days
3 months

Residence of Mrs. G. Patchett, Dunbeath Street, Blenheim

15/3840

16 June 1915

Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

No	32
Date of Notice	16 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Richard Hutchinson	Violet Hilda Wells
	💍 1915/1966
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	4 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. G. Patchett, Dunbeath Street, Blenheim
Folio	15/3840
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

17 June 1915

Edward Harold Austin
Elizabeth Whyte

Edward Harold Austin
Elizabeth Whyte
💍 1915/2695

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

27
30

Kekerangu
Blenheim

7 years
4 years

Church of England, Blenheim

15/4754

17 June 1915

Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

No	33
Date of Notice	17 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Harold Austin	Elizabeth Whyte
	💍 1915/2695
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Kekerangu	Blenheim
Length of Residence	7 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Blenheim
Folio	15/4754
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

22 June 1915

Sidney Walter Haines
Annabelle Margaret Cruickshank

Sidney Walter Haines
Annabelle Margaret Cruickshank
💍 1915/1985

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
27

Renwicktown
Renwicktown

14 years
1 year

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

15/3836

22 June 1915

Mr. W. O. Trownson, Registrar

No	34
Date of Notice	22 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Walter Haines	Annabelle Margaret Cruickshank
	💍 1915/1985
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	14 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim
Folio	15/3836
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Mr. W. O. Trownson, Registrar

25 June 1915

Frank Elliott Meade
Aureola Adeline Wilson Brown

Frank Elliott Meade
Aureola Adeline Wilson Brown
💍 1915/3814

Widower
Spinster

Surgeon
Hospital Nurse

44
28

Blenheim
Nelson

4 1/2 years
14 days

Anglican Cathedral, Nelson

15/6031

25 June 1915

Rev. J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England

No	35
Date of Notice	25 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Elliott Meade	Aureola Adeline Wilson Brown
	💍 1915/3814
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Surgeon	Hospital Nurse
Age	44	28
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 1/2 years	14 days
Marriage Place	Anglican Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	15/6031
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Kempthorne, 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).