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 2121

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar Samuel Tyson

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

8 January 1915

Gilbert Arnold Stent
Elizabeth Burn

Gilbert Arnold Stent
Elizabeth Burn
💍 1915/9012

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic Duties

27
27

Nelson City
Nelson City

3 days
27 yrs

Baptist Church, Bridge Street, Nelson

15/1264

8 January 1915

Rev. Wm Baumber

No	1
Date of Notice	8 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Arnold Stent	Elizabeth Burn
	💍 1915/9012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Nelson City	Nelson City
Length of Residence	3 days	27 yrs
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Bridge Street, Nelson
Folio	15/1264
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Baumber

21 January 1915

Percy Charles Cullen
Margaret Rayner

Percy Charles Cullen
Margaret Rayner
💍 1915/9011

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

28
20

Kawai St. Nelson
Wakapuaka

28 yrs
20 yrs

Residence of Mr. Mrs. G. Cullen, Weka Street, Nelson

15/1263

Tasman Rayner Father

21 January 1915

Rev. W. E. Lambert

No	2
Date of Notice	21 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Charles Cullen	Margaret Rayner
	💍 1915/9011
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Kawai St. Nelson	Wakapuaka
Length of Residence	28 yrs	20 yrs
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Mrs. G. Cullen, Weka Street, Nelson
Folio	15/1263
Consent	Tasman Rayner Father
Date of Certificate	21 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Lambert

22 January 1915

Charles Bertrand Harman
Grace Lillias Bolton

Charles Birtrand Harman
Grace Lillias Bolton
💍 1915/9010

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Domestic Duty

26
22

Tipahi St Nelson
Kawai St Nelson

26 yrs
22 yrs

Church of Christ, Waimea St., Nelson

15/1262

22 January 1915

Rev. S. J.. Mathieson

No	3
Date of Notice	22 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Bertrand Harman	Grace Lillias Bolton
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Birtrand Harman	Grace Lillias Bolton
	💍 1915/9010
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Domestic Duty
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Tipahi St Nelson	Kawai St Nelson
Length of Residence	26 yrs	22 yrs
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Waimea St., Nelson
Folio	15/1262
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J.. Mathieson

3 February 1915

Elijah Smith
Lillian Eunice Winter

Elijah Smith
Lillian Eunice Winter
💍 1915/9028

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Duty

19
17

North Esk Street Nelson
Nelson City

9 yrs
1 yr

All Saints' Church of England, Vanguard St., Nelson

15/1256

John M. Smith, Father; Arthur Winter, Father

3 February 1915

Rev. W. S. Lucas

No	4
Date of Notice	3 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elijah Smith	Lillian Eunice Winter
	💍 1915/9028
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duty
Age	19	17
Dwelling Place	North Esk Street Nelson	Nelson City
Length of Residence	9 yrs	1 yr
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church of England, Vanguard St., Nelson
Folio	15/1256
Consent	John M. Smith, Father; Arthur Winter, Father
Date of Certificate	3 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Lucas

4 February 1915

Alic Esmond Kitching
Ivy Myrtle Inwood

Alec Esmond Kitching
Ivy Myrtle Inwood
💍 1915/9029

Bachelor
Spinster

Tinsmith
Domestic Duty

20
18

Nelson City
Nelson City

20 yrs
18 yrs

All Saints' Church of England, Vanguard St., Nelson

15/1257

Archibald Kitching, Father; Frederick William Townsend, Guardian

4 February 1915

Rev. W. S. Lucas

No	5
Date of Notice	4 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alic Esmond Kitching	Ivy Myrtle Inwood
BDM Match (98%)	Alec Esmond Kitching	Ivy Myrtle Inwood
	💍 1915/9029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith	Domestic Duty
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Nelson City	Nelson City
Length of Residence	20 yrs	18 yrs
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church of England, Vanguard St., Nelson
Folio	15/1257
Consent	Archibald Kitching, Father; Frederick William Townsend, Guardian
Date of Certificate	4 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Lucas

19 February 1915

James Baxter
Cora Eliza Black

James Baxter
Cora Eliza Black
💍 1915/9008

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Clerkess

33
37

Waimea Road Nelson
Tipahi Street Nelson

9 yrs
37 yrs

Residence of Mr. J. Leslie Adams, Tipahi Street, Nelson

15/1260

19 February 1915

Rev. W. E. Lambert

No	6
Date of Notice	19 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Baxter	Cora Eliza Black
	💍 1915/9008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Clerkess
Age	33	37
Dwelling Place	Waimea Road Nelson	Tipahi Street Nelson
Length of Residence	9 yrs	37 yrs
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. J. Leslie Adams, Tipahi Street, Nelson
Folio	15/1260
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Lambert

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).