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 2097

District of Motueka Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar W. McInnes

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

247

13 January 1915

John Macauley
Grace Evelin Ida Lunn

John Macaulay
Grace Eveleen Ida Lunn
💍 1915/7951

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic

22
19

Motueka
Motueka

3 days
3 weeks

Jubilee Hall, Lower Moutere

15/1548

George Lunn, Father

13 January 1915

Rev Foston

No	247
Date of Notice	13 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Macauley	Grace Evelin Ida Lunn
BDM Match (92%)	John Macaulay	Grace Eveleen Ida Lunn
	💍 1915/7951
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Jubilee Hall, Lower Moutere
Folio	15/1548
Consent	George Lunn, Father
Date of Certificate	13 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev Foston

248

23 January 1915

John Henry Chant
Clarice Inwood

John Henry Chant
Clarice Inwood
💍 1915/8992

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

28
24

Motueka
Motueka

25 years
24 years

Registrar's Office, Motueka

15/1244

23 January 1915

W. McInnes

No	248
Date of Notice	23 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Chant	Clarice Inwood
	💍 1915/8992
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	25 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Motueka
Folio	15/1244
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1915
Officiating Minister	W. McInnes

249

3 February 1915

Joseph Arthur Smith
Minnie Burke

Joseph Arthur Smith
Minnie Burke
💍 1915/8996

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

24
24

Motueka
Motueka

24 years
18 months

House of Mr. C. Ching, Motueka

15/1247

3 February 1915

Rev W. W. French

No	249
Date of Notice	3 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Arthur Smith	Minnie Burke
	💍 1915/8996
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	24 years	18 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. C. Ching, Motueka
Folio	15/1247
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev W. W. French

250

23 February 1915

Allan Tulley
Emma Stahelin

Allan Tulley
Emma Stahelin
💍 1915/8995

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Nurse

24
28

Motueka
Motueka

10 months
12 months

Presbyterian Manse, Riwaka

15/1246

23 February 1915

Rev W. W. French

No	250
Date of Notice	23 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Tulley	Emma Stahelin
	💍 1915/8995
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Nurse
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	10 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Riwaka
Folio	15/1246
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev W. W. French

251

20 March 1915

Frederick John Spear
Annie Bertha Fowler

Frederick John Spear
Annie Bertha Fowler
💍 1915/8993

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

24
29

Motueka
Wakarewa

4 days
4 days

House of Mr. S. Fowler, Motueka

15/1245

20 March 1915

Rev W. W. French

No	251
Date of Notice	20 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Spear	Annie Bertha Fowler
	💍 1915/8993
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	24	29
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Wakarewa
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	House of Mr. S. Fowler, Motueka
Folio	15/1245
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev W. W. French

252

24 March 1915

Philip James Quayle
Emily Elizabeth Epps

Philip James Quayle
Emily Elizabeth Epps
💍 1915/8991

Divorced
Spinster

Labourer
Household Duties

41
25

Motueka
Motueka

15 months
one month Motueka

Registrar's Office, Motueka

15/1243

24 March 1915

W. McInnes

No	252
Date of Notice	24 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip James Quayle	Emily Elizabeth Epps
	💍 1915/8991
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household Duties
Age	41	25
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	15 months	one month Motueka
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Motueka
Folio	15/1243
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1915
Officiating Minister	W. McInnes

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).