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 2017

District of Ahaura Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar Geo. G. Richard

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

George Henry Gilbert
Margaret Frances Mullins

George Henry Gilbert
Margaret Frances Mullins
💍 1915/639

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
School Teacher

34
29

Kumara
Kumara

4 days
29 years

In the Roman Catholic Church at Nelson N.Z.

2767

6 January 1915

Rev. Father O'Hare, Roman Catholic Clergyman, Ahaura

No	40
Date of Notice	6 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Gilbert	Margaret Frances Mullins
	💍 1915/639
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	School Teacher
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Kumara	Kumara
Length of Residence	4 days	29 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church at Nelson N.Z.
Folio	2767
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father O'Hare, Roman Catholic Clergyman, Ahaura

28 January 1915

Charles Morrison Robertson
Louisa Catherine Stenhouse

Charles Morrison Robertson
Louisa Catherine Stenhouse
💍 1915/9003

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Shop Assistant

25
20

Blackball
Blackball

5 years
5 years

In the Presbyterian Church at Blackball N.Z.

1231

Joseph Stenhouse, Father of Louisa Catherine Stenhouse

28 January 1915

W. H. R. Milne, Presbyterian Home Missionary, Blackball

No	41
Date of Notice	28 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Morrison Robertson	Louisa Catherine Stenhouse
	💍 1915/9003
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Shop Assistant
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Blackball	Blackball
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church at Blackball N.Z.
Folio	1231
Consent	Joseph Stenhouse, Father of Louisa Catherine Stenhouse
Date of Certificate	28 January 1915
Officiating Minister	W. H. R. Milne, Presbyterian Home Missionary, Blackball

1 February 1915

Robert Nelson Harvey
Dorothy Louisa McGregor

Robert Nelson Harvey
Dorothy Louisa Messenger
💍 1915/9002

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Duties

23
21

Waiuta
Waiuta

6 months
7 months

In the Anglican Church at Waiuta

1230

1 February 1915

Rev. Geo. Crossman, Anglican Clergyman, Brunnerton

No	42
Date of Notice	1 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Nelson Harvey	Dorothy Louisa McGregor
BDM Match (90%)	Robert Nelson Harvey	Dorothy Louisa Messenger
	💍 1915/9002
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Duties
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Waiuta	Waiuta
Length of Residence	6 months	7 months
Marriage Place	In the Anglican Church at Waiuta
Folio	1230
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Crossman, Anglican Clergyman, Brunnerton

16 February 1915

Stanley Phillip Blackpool
Collane Rebecca Eliza Arbon

Stanley Phillip Stacpoole
Eleanor Rebecca Eliza Arbon
💍 1915/9001

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

22
18

Waiuta
Waiuta

4 years
19 months

In the Anglican Church at Waiuta

1229

Alfred Howard Arbon, Father of Collane Rebecca Eliza Arbon

16 February 1915

Rev. Geo. Crossman, Anglican Clergyman, Brunnerton

No	43
Date of Notice	16 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Phillip Blackpool	Collane Rebecca Eliza Arbon
BDM Match (83%)	Stanley Phillip Stacpoole	Eleanor Rebecca Eliza Arbon
	💍 1915/9001
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Waiuta	Waiuta
Length of Residence	4 years	19 months
Marriage Place	In the Anglican Church at Waiuta
Folio	1229
Consent	Alfred Howard Arbon, Father of Collane Rebecca Eliza Arbon
Date of Certificate	16 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Crossman, Anglican Clergyman, Brunnerton

20 March 1915

William Hampson Eckersley
Annie Sophie Williams

William Hampson Eckersley
Annie Sophia Williams
💍 1915/749

Widower
Spinster

Miner
Cook

29
45

Blackball
Ngahere

4 years
2 years

In the Anglican Church at Blackball

2786

20 March 1915

Rev. Geo. Crossman, Anglican Clergyman, Brunnerton

No	44
Date of Notice	20 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hampson Eckersley	Annie Sophie Williams
BDM Match (98%)	William Hampson Eckersley	Annie Sophia Williams
	💍 1915/749
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Cook
Age	29	45
Dwelling Place	Blackball	Ngahere
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Anglican Church at Blackball
Folio	2786
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Crossman, Anglican Clergyman, Brunnerton

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).