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 2001

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 June 1915 Registrar C. W. Brown

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 April 1915

Thomas Pope Wright
Wilhelmina Theresa Coward

Thomas Pope Wright
Wilhelmina Theresa Coward
💍 1915/1964

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

23 years
25 years

Blenheim
Blenheim

4 days
8 years

St. Andrew's Church, Blenheim

15/3838

6 April 1915

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	16
Date of Notice	6 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Pope Wright	Wilhelmina Theresa Coward
	💍 1915/1964
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	23 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	4 days	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Blenheim
Folio	15/3838
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

13 April 1915

Walter John Joseph Rainbird
Emma Eliza Wilson

Walter John Joseph Rainbird
Emma Eliza Wilson
💍 1915/1971

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

37 years
32 years

Blenheim
Blenheim

6 years
18 months

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

15/3845

13 April 1915

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

No	17
Date of Notice	13 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John Joseph Rainbird	Emma Eliza Wilson
	💍 1915/1971
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	37 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	6 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	15/3845
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

17 April 1915

Cecil James Adams
Carrie Cheesman

Cecil James Adams
Carrie Cheesman
💍 1915/1974

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic

29 years
22 years

Grovetown
Grovetown

29 years
22 years

Church of England, Grovetown

15/3847

17 April 1915

Rev. W. Wollstein, Church of England

No	18
Date of Notice	17 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil James Adams	Carrie Cheesman
	💍 1915/1974
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic
Age	29 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Grovetown	Grovetown
Length of Residence	29 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Grovetown
Folio	15/3847
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Wollstein, Church of England

21 April 1915

Edward Amyas Wilmot Moore
Margaret Mildred Rutherford

Edward Amyas Wilmot Moore
Margaret Mildred Rutherford
💍 1915/1972

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic

38 years
26 years

Kekerangu
Kekerangu

22 years
14 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

15/3846

21 April 1915

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

No	19
Date of Notice	21 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Amyas Wilmot Moore	Margaret Mildred Rutherford
	💍 1915/1972
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic
Age	38 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Kekerangu	Kekerangu
Length of Residence	22 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	15/3846
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, Church of England

28 April 1915

Arthur John Charles Grimmett
Laura Bertha Mills

Arthur John Charles Grimmett
Laura Gertha Mills
💍 1915/1975

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer
Domestic

26 years
22 years

Blenheim
Renwicktown

3 days
3 days

Presbyterian Church, Renwicktown

15/3848

28 April 1915

Mr. A. H. Coates, Presbyterian

No	20
Date of Notice	28 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Charles Grimmett	Laura Bertha Mills
BDM Match (97%)	Arthur John Charles Grimmett	Laura Gertha Mills
	💍 1915/1975
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer	Domestic
Age	26 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Renwicktown
Folio	15/3848
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Mr. A. H. Coates, Presbyterian

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).