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 2139

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 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

29 November 1915

Bernard William Lane
Mildred Eastgate

Bernard William Lane
Mildred Eastgate
💍 1915/7027

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Clerk
Shop Assistant

25
20

Nelson
Nelson

25 years
5 years

All Saints' Church of England, Nelson

15/9439

Charles Robert Eastgate, father

29 November 1915

Rev. W. S. Lucas

No	97
Date of Notice	29 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard William Lane	Mildred Eastgate
	💍 1915/7027
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Clerk	Shop Assistant
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	25 years	5 years
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church of England, Nelson
Folio	15/9439
Consent	Charles Robert Eastgate, father
Date of Certificate	29 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Lucas

4 December 1915

Kenneth McKenzie Black
Elizabeth Catherine Jane Johnstone

Kenneth McKenzie Black
Elizabeth Catherine Jane Johnstone
💍 1915/6995

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Dressmaker

24
24

Nelson
Nelson

5 years
24 years

Residence of Sidney Slinn, St. Vincent Street, Nelson

15/9447

4 December 1915

Rev. J. H. McKenzie

No	98
Date of Notice	4 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth McKenzie Black	Elizabeth Catherine Jane Johnstone
	💍 1915/6995
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Dressmaker
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	5 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Sidney Slinn, St. Vincent Street, Nelson
Folio	15/9447
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. McKenzie

10 December 1915

Llewellyn Jones
Myrtle Minnie Ruffell

Llewellyn Jones
Myrtle Minnie Ruffell
💍 1915/6977

Bachelor
Spinster

Decorator
Household Duties

34
21

Wakapuaka
Wakapuaka

9 years
21 years

Cathedral, Nelson

15/9445

10 December 1915

Rev. J. P. Kempthorne

No	99
Date of Notice	10 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Llewellyn Jones	Myrtle Minnie Ruffell
	💍 1915/6977
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Decorator	Household Duties
Age	34	21
Dwelling Place	Wakapuaka	Wakapuaka
Length of Residence	9 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	15/9445
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Kempthorne

100

11 December 1915

Cecil William Dixon
Doris Beatrice Ching

Cecil William Dixon
Doris Beatrice Ching
💍 1915/6988

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Shop Assistant

26
19

Nelson
Wakatu

21 years
19 years

Residence of Philip Ching, Wakatu

15/9446

Philip Ching, "Father"

11 December 1915

Rev. A. Ashcroft

No	100
Date of Notice	11 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil William Dixon	Doris Beatrice Ching
	💍 1915/6988
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Shop Assistant
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Wakatu
Length of Residence	21 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Philip Ching, Wakatu
Folio	15/9446
Consent	Philip Ching, "Father"
Date of Certificate	11 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Ashcroft

101

18 December 1915

Thomas Henry Alldridge
Linda Louisa Ricketts

Thomas Henry Alldridge
Linda Louisa Ricketts
💍 1915/7032

Bachelor
Spinster

Pioneer Sergeant New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Nurse

25
21

Nelson
Nelson

21 years
21 years

All Saints' Church, Nelson

15/9444

18 December 1915

Rev. G. J. Carr

No	101
Date of Notice	18 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Alldridge	Linda Louisa Ricketts
	💍 1915/7032
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pioneer Sergeant New Zealand Expeditionary Force	Nurse
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	21 years	21 years
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church, Nelson
Folio	15/9444
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. J. Carr

102

20 December 1915

George Robertson Burrows
Jessie Miller Bertha Wilson

George Robertson Burrows
Jessie Miller Bertha Wilson
💍 1915/7029

Bachelor
Spinster

Tinsmith
Domestic Duties

26
23

Nelson
Nelson

14 months
9 months

Presbyterian Church, Nelson

15/9441

20 December 1915

Rev. J. H. McKenzie

No	102
Date of Notice	20 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robertson Burrows	Jessie Miller Bertha Wilson
	💍 1915/7029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith	Domestic Duties
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	14 months	9 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Nelson
Folio	15/9441
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. McKenzie

103

27 December 1915

Walter Henry Sutcliff Heaps
Aileen Marion Dodson

Walter Herny Sutcliffe Heaps
Aileen Marion Dodson
💍 1915/7030

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

26
24

Nelson
Nelson

4 days
24 years

Cathedral, Nelson

15/9442

28 December 1915

Rev. J. P. Kempthorne

No	103
Date of Notice	27 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Sutcliff Heaps	Aileen Marion Dodson
BDM Match (95%)	Walter Herny Sutcliffe Heaps	Aileen Marion Dodson
	💍 1915/7030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	15/9442
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Kempthorne

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).