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 2185

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar Ernest White Bone

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

6 January 1915

Philip Henry Martin
Jessie Florence Lucy McIntosh

Philip Henry Martin
Jessie Florence Lucy McIntosh
💍 1915/9042

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Duties

26
29

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 days
29 years

St. Paul's Methodist Church, Greymouth

1294

6 January 1915

Rev. A. Ashcroft

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Henry Martin	Jessie Florence Lucy McIntosh
	💍 1915/9042
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Duties
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Methodist Church, Greymouth
Folio	1294
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Ashcroft

6 January 1915

James Lalor
Rose Payne

James Lalor
Rose Payne
💍 1915/9343

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill hand
Domestic

32
21

Greymouth
Greymouth

14 days
1 month

Mrs. Lalor's Residence, North Beach

1478

6 January 1915

Rev. D. P. Carew

No	2
Date of Notice	6 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Lalor	Rose Payne
	💍 1915/9343
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill hand	Domestic
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	14 days	1 month
Marriage Place	Mrs. Lalor's Residence, North Beach
Folio	1478
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. P. Carew

7 January 1915

Terence Joseph Deere
Teresa Curtain

Terence Joseph Deere
Teresa Curtain
💍 1915/13243

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Barmaid

21
19

Greymouth
Greymouth

21 years
4 years

Private Residence of Mr. G. Adams, Mackay Street, Greymouth

1481

Honorah Adams, Mother

7 January 1915

Rev. J. J. Fraher

No	3
Date of Notice	7 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Terence Joseph Deere	Teresa Curtain
	💍 1915/13243
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Barmaid
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	21 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Mr. G. Adams, Mackay Street, Greymouth
Folio	1481
Consent	Honorah Adams, Mother
Date of Certificate	7 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Fraher

9 January 1915

Joseph Edward Bell
Florence Edith Bell

Joseph Edward Bell
Florence Edith Bell
💍 1915/9034

Bachelor
Widow

Hotel Porter
Domestic

37
33

Greymouth
Greymouth

10 months
10 months

Registrar's Office, Greymouth

1286

9 January 1915

Registrar of Marriages

No	4
Date of Notice	9 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Edward Bell	Florence Edith Bell
	💍 1915/9034
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Hotel Porter	Domestic
Age	37	33
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	10 months	10 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Greymouth
Folio	1286
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

16 January 1915

James Aitcheson Brown
Annie Craig

James Aitchison Brown
Annie Craig
💍 1915/9041

Bachelor
Spinster

Presbyterian Minister
Domestic

57
42

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 days
3 days

St. John's Presbyterian Church, Greymouth

1293

16 January 1915

Rev. Robt. Trotter

No	5
Date of Notice	16 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Aitcheson Brown	Annie Craig
BDM Match (98%)	James Aitchison Brown	Annie Craig
	💍 1915/9041
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Presbyterian Minister	Domestic
Age	57	42
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. John's Presbyterian Church, Greymouth
Folio	1293
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt. Trotter

25 January 1915

Ernest Austin Clough
Averial Iris Smith

Ernest Austin Clough
Averial Iris Smith
💍 1915/7952

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic

28
21

Greymouth
Greymouth

5 years
21 years

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

1549

25 January 1915

Rev. J. A. Rogers

No	6
Date of Notice	25 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Austin Clough	Averial Iris Smith
	💍 1915/7952
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	5 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	1549
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Rogers

9 February 1915

William Whitford McNeice
Mary Cecilia Mulligan

William Whitford McKechnie
Mary Cecilia McGilligan
💍 1915/9344

Bachelor
Spinster

Loco driver N. Z. Rlys.
Domestic

33
30

Greymouth
Greymouth

20 years
12 years

St. Patrick's Church, Greymouth

1479

9 February 1915

Dean D. P. Carew

No	7
Date of Notice	9 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Whitford McNeice	Mary Cecilia Mulligan
BDM Match (84%)	William Whitford McKechnie	Mary Cecilia McGilligan
	💍 1915/9344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Loco driver N. Z. Rlys.	Domestic
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	20 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Greymouth
Folio	1479
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Dean D. P. Carew

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).