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 2137

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 October 1915

Alfred John Green
Hellena Janet Leece

Alfred John Green
Hellena Janet Leece
💍 1915/6990

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Factory Employee

20
18

Nelson
Nelson

18 months
17 months

Saint Marys Catholic Church, Nelson

15/9465

Phylotte Green "Mother" & Emily Beatrice Stains "Mother"

29 October 1915

Rev James Symons

No	84
Date of Notice	29 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred John Green	Hellena Janet Leece
	💍 1915/6990
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Factory Employee
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	18 months	17 months
Marriage Place	Saint Marys Catholic Church, Nelson
Folio	15/9465
Consent	Phylotte Green "Mother" & Emily Beatrice Stains "Mother"
Date of Certificate	29 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev James Symons

1 November 1915

William George Hicklin
Iveline Browning Cooksey

William George Nicklin
Ivilene Browning Cooksey
💍 1915/6991

Bachelor
Spinster

Drainpipe Hanger
Waitress

28
21

Nelson
Nelson

3 years
20 years

Dwelling of Annie Cooksey, Hampden Street, Nelson

15/9466

1 November 1915

Rev. P. A. Dickson

No	85
Date of Notice	1 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Hicklin	Iveline Browning Cooksey
BDM Match (94%)	William George Nicklin	Ivilene Browning Cooksey
	💍 1915/6991
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drainpipe Hanger	Waitress
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Annie Cooksey, Hampden Street, Nelson
Folio	15/9466
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. A. Dickson

1 November 1915

Leslie James Saunders
Muriel Lewis

Leslie James Saunders
Muriel Lewis
💍 1915/6987

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic Duties

21
21

Nelson
Nelson

2 months
2 months

Residence of Horatio J. Feary, Waimea Road, Nelson

15/9463

1 November 1915

Rev W Baumber

No	86
Date of Notice	1 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie James Saunders	Muriel Lewis
	💍 1915/6987
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic Duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Horatio J. Feary, Waimea Road, Nelson
Folio	15/9463
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev W Baumber

2 November 1915

James Atkinson Clark
Wilhelmina Robb

James Atkinson Clark
Wilhelmina Robb
💍 1915/7019

Widower
Spinster

Contractor
Teacher

64
45

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
1 year

Residence of John Robb, Beachville

15/9472

2 November 1915

Rev. W. E. Lambert

No	87
Date of Notice	2 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Atkinson Clark	Wilhelmina Robb
	💍 1915/7019
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Teacher
Age	64	45
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of John Robb, Beachville
Folio	15/9472
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Lambert

6 November 1915

Cecil Reginald Norgate
Olive Grace Humphreys

Cecil Reginald Norgate
Olive Grace Humphreys
💍 1915/7005

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist
Domestic duties

30
22

Wakatu
Stoke

30 years
10 years

Methodist Church, Stoke

15/9482

6 November 1915

Rev A. Ashcroft

No	88
Date of Notice	6 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Reginald Norgate	Olive Grace Humphreys
	💍 1915/7005
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist	Domestic duties
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Wakatu	Stoke
Length of Residence	30 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Stoke
Folio	15/9482
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Ashcroft

8 November 1915

William Drew Chandler
Margaret Reid Moir

William Drew Chandler
Margaret Reid Moir
💍 1915/6978

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

34
36

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
4 years

Church of Christ, Waimea Street, Nelson

15/9454

8 November 1915

Rev. P. A. Dickson

No	89
Date of Notice	8 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Drew Chandler	Margaret Reid Moir
	💍 1915/6978
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	34	36
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Waimea Street, Nelson
Folio	15/9454
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. A. Dickson

9 November 1915

Joseph Angus Lang
Edna Lyell Bassetti

Joseph Angus Lang
Edna Lysle Bassetti
💍 1915/7013

Bachelor
Spinster

Musician
Actress

28
22

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
3 days

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

15/9471

9 November 1915

S Tyson Registrar Marriages

No	90
Date of Notice	9 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Angus Lang	Edna Lyell Bassetti
BDM Match (95%)	Joseph Angus Lang	Edna Lysle Bassetti
	💍 1915/7013
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Musician	Actress
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	15/9471
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1915
Officiating Minister	S Tyson Registrar Marriages

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).