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 2013

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 December 1915 Registrar C. J. Brownson

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

Charles Edward Longhurst Ettrick
Unice Saul

Charles Edward Songhurst Ettrick
Unice Saul
💍 1915/7509

Bachelor
Spinster

Lineman
Domestic duties

32
26

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
23 years

Methodist Church, Blenheim

15/9982

2 November 1915

Rev. B. F. Rothwell, Methodist

No	59
Date of Notice	2 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Longhurst Ettrick	Unice Saul
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Edward Songhurst Ettrick	Unice Saul
	💍 1915/7509
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lineman	Domestic duties
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Blenheim
Folio	15/9982
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. F. Rothwell, Methodist

4 November 1915

Patrick Joseph Flaherty
Helena Vaughan

Patrick Joseph Flaherty
Helena Vaughan
💍 1915/6961

Bachelor
Spinster

Farrier to N. Z. Exped. Forces
Barmaid

37
29

Blenheim
Blenheim

1 day
5 months

St. Mary's Church, Blenheim

15/9396

4 November 1915

Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic

No	60
Date of Notice	4 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Joseph Flaherty	Helena Vaughan
	💍 1915/6961
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farrier to N. Z. Exped. Forces	Barmaid
Age	37	29
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	1 day	5 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Blenheim
Folio	15/9396
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic

9 November 1915

Charles Hugh Jackson
Elizabeth Catherine Wilson

Charles Hugh Jackson
Elizabeth Catherine Wilson
💍 1915/6927

Bachelor
Divorced

Farmer
Domestic

28
33

Blenheim
Picton

3 days
18 months

Presbyterian Church, Blenheim

15/9404

9 November 1915

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	61
Date of Notice	9 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Hugh Jackson	Elizabeth Catherine Wilson
	💍 1915/6927
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	28	33
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Picton
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Blenheim
Folio	15/9404
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

13 November 1915

Herbert Richard Garfield Wratt
Annie Elizabeth Lilian Andrell

Herbert Richard Garfield Wratt
Annie Elizabeth Lilian Andrell
💍 1915/6974

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm labourer
Domestic

19
17

Grovetown
Grovetown

19 years
17 years

Methodist Church, Grovetown

15/9385

Joseph Wratt, Father; John Henry Andrell, Father

13 November 1915

Rev. J. R. B. Woolloxall, Methodist

No	62
Date of Notice	13 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Richard Garfield Wratt	Annie Elizabeth Lilian Andrell
	💍 1915/6974
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm labourer	Domestic
Age	19	17
Dwelling Place	Grovetown	Grovetown
Length of Residence	19 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Grovetown
Folio	15/9385
Consent	Joseph Wratt, Father; John Henry Andrell, Father
Date of Certificate	13 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. B. Woolloxall, Methodist

15 November 1915

Samuel Hodgson
Mabel Theresa Cundy

Samuel Hodgson
Mabel Theresa Candy
💍 1915/6975

Widower
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic

47
34

Blind River
Blenheim

27 years
34 years

Mr. J. Coward's Residence, High St., Blenheim

15/9386

15 November 1915

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

No	63
Date of Notice	15 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Hodgson	Mabel Theresa Cundy
BDM Match (97%)	Samuel Hodgson	Mabel Theresa Candy
	💍 1915/6975
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic
Age	47	34
Dwelling Place	Blind River	Blenheim
Length of Residence	27 years	34 years
Marriage Place	Mr. J. Coward's Residence, High St., Blenheim
Folio	15/9386
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace, 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).