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 1997

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar C. O. Trownson

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

6 January 1915

Edward Francis Sibeth
Edith Eleanor Goulter

Edward Francis Sibeth
Edith Eleanor Goulter
💍 1915/7850

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep farmer

27
27

Awatere
Blenheim

3 years
27 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

15/1221

6 January 1915

Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Francis Sibeth	Edith Eleanor Goulter
	💍 1915/7850
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep farmer
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Awatere	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	15/1221
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic

11 January 1915

Joseph McFadden
Charlotte Worsdell

Joseph McFadden
Charlotte Worsdell
💍 1915/9677

Widower
Spinster

Stockdealer
Housekeeper

47
42

Blenheim
Blenheim

11 years
2 years

Mr. J. McKenzie's Dwelling House Munro St., Blenheim

15/2460

11 January 1915

Rev. B. F. Rothwell, Methodist

No	2
Date of Notice	11 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph McFadden	Charlotte Worsdell
	💍 1915/9677
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Stockdealer	Housekeeper
Age	47	42
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	11 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Mr. J. McKenzie's Dwelling House Munro St., Blenheim
Folio	15/2460
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. F. Rothwell, Methodist

15 January 1915

Clifford Cansick Smyth
Winifred Madeline Macey

Clifford Causick Smyth
Winifred Madeline Macey
💍 1915/13608

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank clerk
School teacher

30
28

Whakatane
Blenheim

3 years
3 weeks

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

15/1225

15 January 1915

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

No	3
Date of Notice	15 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clifford Cansick Smyth	Winifred Madeline Macey
BDM Match (98%)	Clifford Causick Smyth	Winifred Madeline Macey
	💍 1915/13608
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank clerk	School teacher
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Whakatane	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	15/1225
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

28 January 1915

Bernard Michael McMahon
Eileen Winifred Mary O'Leary

Bernard Michael McMahon
Eileen Winifred Mary OLeary
💍 1915/13605

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

23
18

Blenheim
Blenheim

5 years
18 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

15/1222

Cornelius O'Leary, Father

28 January 1915

Rev. H. McDonald, Roman Catholic

No	4
Date of Notice	28 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard Michael McMahon	Eileen Winifred Mary O'Leary
BDM Match (98%)	Bernard Michael McMahon	Eileen Winifred Mary OLeary
	💍 1915/13605
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	5 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	15/1222
Consent	Cornelius O'Leary, Father
Date of Certificate	28 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. McDonald, Roman Catholic

1 February 1915

Ernest Arthur Williams Webber
Mary Phebe Alderson

Ernest Arthur Williams Webber
Mary Phebe Alderson
💍 1915/7853

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

20
19

Spring Creek
Spring Creek

4 days
4 days

St. Luke's Church, Spring Creek

15/1224

Arthur Charles Webber, Father; Richard Alderson, Father

1 February 1915

Rev. Wm Wollstein, Church of England

No	5
Date of Notice	1 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Arthur Williams Webber	Mary Phebe Alderson
	💍 1915/7853
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Spring Creek	Spring Creek
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Spring Creek
Folio	15/1224
Consent	Arthur Charles Webber, Father; Richard Alderson, Father
Date of Certificate	1 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Wollstein, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).