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 2141

District of Reefton Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar Gwyn Morris

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

9 January 1915

Leslie McHenry
Gladys Mildred McEwin

Leslie McHenry
Gladys Mildred McEwin
💍 1915/9020

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

27
20

Crushington
Crushington

5 years
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Reefton

15/1271

Mary Elizabeth McEwin, mother

9 January 1915

Rev. J. H. Brown

No	1
Date of Notice	9 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie McHenry	Gladys Mildred McEwin
	💍 1915/9020
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Crushington	Crushington
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Reefton
Folio	15/1271
Consent	Mary Elizabeth McEwin, mother
Date of Certificate	9 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Brown

11 January 1915

Terence Brady
Julia Higgins

Terence Brady
Julia Higgins
💍 1915/9443

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

41
37

Reefton
Reefton

3 days
13 years

Roman Catholic Church, Reefton

15/1799

11 January 1915

Rev. G. Galerne

No	2
Date of Notice	11 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Terence Brady	Julia Higgins
	💍 1915/9443
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	41	37
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	3 days	13 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Reefton
Folio	15/1799
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Galerne

10 February 1915

Edward William Loughnan
Minnie Violet Eveline Cook

Edward William Loughnan
Minnie Violet Eveline Cook
💍 1915/9444

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic

28
19

Big River
Progress Junction

2 years
19 years

Residence of A. O. Cook, Progress Junction

15/1800

Alfred Oscar Cook, father

10 February 1915

Rev. G. Galerne

No	3
Date of Notice	10 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward William Loughnan	Minnie Violet Eveline Cook
	💍 1915/9444
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Big River	Progress Junction
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of A. O. Cook, Progress Junction
Folio	15/1800
Consent	Alfred Oscar Cook, father
Date of Certificate	10 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Galerne

22 February 1915

Allan Newman Baker
Elizabeth Florance Loubere

Allan Newman Baker
Elizabeth Florance Loubere
💍 1915/9016

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk
Domestic

27
26

Reefton
Reefton

3 years
10 years

Residence of Ellen Loubere, Reefton

15/1268

22 February 1915

Rev. E. A. Parker

No	4
Date of Notice	22 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Newman Baker	Elizabeth Florance Loubere
	💍 1915/9016
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk	Domestic
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Ellen Loubere, Reefton
Folio	15/1268
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Parker

22 February 1915

Archibald John McInnes
Elizabeth Brown Archer

Archibald John McInnes
Elizabeth Brown Archer
💍 1915/9017

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Postmistress

27
23

Globe Mine
Globe Mine

5 years
2 years

The Vicarage, Reefton

15/1269

22 February 1915

Rev. E. A. Parker

No	5
Date of Notice	22 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald John McInnes	Elizabeth Brown Archer
	💍 1915/9017
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Postmistress
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Globe Mine	Globe Mine
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Vicarage, Reefton
Folio	15/1269
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Parker

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).