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 2135

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

2 October 1915

James Devine
Margaret Kerr Baxter

James Derine
Margaret Kerr Bapter
💍 1915/6981

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant
Saleswoman

29
29

Nelson
Nelson

3 Years
6 Years

Residence of Isabella Baxter, Waimea Road, Nelson

15/9457

2 October 1915

Rev. W. E. Lambert

No	71
Date of Notice	2 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Devine	Margaret Kerr Baxter
BDM Match (93%)	James Derine	Margaret Kerr Bapter
	💍 1915/6981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant	Saleswoman
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 Years	6 Years
Marriage Place	Residence of Isabella Baxter, Waimea Road, Nelson
Folio	15/9457
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Lambert

5 October 1915

George Anderson Stappel Luoni
Mary Josephine Macdonald

George Anderson Stappol Luoni
Mary Josephine Macdonald
💍 1915/6983

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

26
29

Nelson
Nelson

4 Days
6 Days

Saint Marys Roman Catholic Church, Nelson

15/9459

5 October 1915

Rev. F. Bartley

No	72
Date of Notice	5 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Anderson Stappel Luoni	Mary Josephine Macdonald
BDM Match (98%)	George Anderson Stappol Luoni	Mary Josephine Macdonald
	💍 1915/6983
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 Days	6 Days
Marriage Place	Saint Marys Roman Catholic Church, Nelson
Folio	15/9459
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Bartley

6 October 1915

Carl Wilhelm Nordberg
Ada Maud Conroy

Carl Wilhelm Nordberg
Ada Maud Conroy
💍 1915/6982

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

36
39

Nelson
Nelson

3 Days
8 Months

Residence of Frank Ricketts, Vanguard Street, Nelson

15/9458

6 October 1915

Rev. J. H. MacKenzie

No	73
Date of Notice	6 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Carl Wilhelm Nordberg	Ada Maud Conroy
	💍 1915/6982
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	39
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 Days	8 Months
Marriage Place	Residence of Frank Ricketts, Vanguard Street, Nelson
Folio	15/9458
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. MacKenzie

8 October 1915

William Leonard Hesseltine
Zilla Fanny Kerr

William Leonard Hesseltine
Zilla Fanny Kerr
💍 1915/6979

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

29
21

Nelson
Nelson

29 Years
21 Years

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson

15/9455

8 October 1915

Rev. J. P. Kempthorne

No	74
Date of Notice	8 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Leonard Hesseltine	Zilla Fanny Kerr
	💍 1915/6979
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	29 Years	21 Years
Marriage Place	Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	15/9455
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Kempthorne

8 October 1915

Albert Williamson
Elizabeth Jane Young

Albert Williamsen
Elizabeth Jane Young
💍 1915/6980

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

27
17

Nelson
Nelson

4 Months
2 Months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

15/9456

Jeannie Young, Mother of the Bride

8 October 1915

E. M. B. Emerson Deputy Registrar

No	75
Date of Notice	8 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Williamson	Elizabeth Jane Young
BDM Match (97%)	Albert Williamsen	Elizabeth Jane Young
	💍 1915/6980
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	27	17
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 Months	2 Months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	15/9456
Consent	Jeannie Young, Mother of the Bride
Date of Certificate	8 October 1915
Officiating Minister	E. M. B. Emerson Deputy Registrar

18 October 1915

Noel Worthington Farmar
Sydney Ellen Shaw

Noel Worthington Farmar
Sydney Ellen Shaw
💍 1915/6984

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipping Clerk
Typiste

18
22

Nelson
Nelson

12 Days
4 Days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

15/9460

Arthur James Farmar Father

18 October 1915

E. M. B. Emerson Deputy Registrar

No	76
Date of Notice	18 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Noel Worthington Farmar	Sydney Ellen Shaw
	💍 1915/6984
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipping Clerk	Typiste
Age	18	22
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	12 Days	4 Days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	15/9460
Consent	Arthur James Farmar Father
Date of Certificate	18 October 1915
Officiating Minister	E. M. B. Emerson Deputy Registrar

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).