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 2269

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 December 1915 Registrar W. W. White

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

5 October 1915

Jacob Leslie Mander
Elsie Smith

Jacob Leslie Mander
Elsie Smith
💍 1915/7111

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Engineer
domestic duties

26
24

Waitara
New Plymouth

3 days
8 weeks

Baring Square Church, Ashburton

9550

5 October 1915

Rev. W. J. Elliott

No	64
Date of Notice	5 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jacob Leslie Mander	Elsie Smith
	💍 1915/7111
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Engineer	domestic duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Waitara	New Plymouth
Length of Residence	3 days	8 weeks
Marriage Place	Baring Square Church, Ashburton
Folio	9550
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Elliott

7 October 1915

Charles Octavius Lamb
Maude Judd

Chalres Octavius Lamb
Maude Judd
💍 1915/7112

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

32
23

Timaru
Tinwald

3 days
22 years

Church of England Tinwald

9551

7 October 1915

Rev. H. B. Jones

No	65
Date of Notice	7 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Octavius Lamb	Maude Judd
BDM Match (95%)	Chalres Octavius Lamb	Maude Judd
	💍 1915/7112
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Tinwald
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Tinwald
Folio	9551
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Jones

12 October 1915

Henry Taylor
Ivy Constance Dawson

Henry Taylor
Ivy Constance Daivson
💍 1915/7109

Widower
Widow

Butcher
domestic duties

48
35

Ashburton
Ashburton

40 years
6 years

Office of the Registrar Ashburton

9548

12 October 1915

W. W. White Registrar

No	66
Date of Notice	12 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Taylor	Ivy Constance Dawson
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Taylor	Ivy Constance Daivson
	💍 1915/7109
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Butcher	domestic duties
Age	48	35
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	40 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar Ashburton
Folio	9548
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1915
Officiating Minister	W. W. White Registrar

16 October 1915

William Robert Andrews
Sarah Ann Fountain

William Robert Andrews
Sarah Ann Fountaine
💍 1915/7113

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
domestic duties

31
22

Hampstead
Netherby

20 years
3 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton

9552

16 October 1915

Rev George Miller

No	67
Date of Notice	16 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robert Andrews	Sarah Ann Fountain
BDM Match (97%)	William Robert Andrews	Sarah Ann Fountaine
	💍 1915/7113
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	domestic duties
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Hampstead	Netherby
Length of Residence	20 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton
Folio	9552
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev George Miller

18 October 1915

Gordon Sutton
Harriet Selina Dennis

Gordon Hutton
Harriet Selina Dennis
💍 1915/7114

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

28
31

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 months
18 months

at the dwelling of Mr Hughes Cameron Street Ashburton

9553

18 October 1915

Rev. John G. Gray

No	68
Date of Notice	18 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Sutton	Harriet Selina Dennis
BDM Match (96%)	Gordon Hutton	Harriet Selina Dennis
	💍 1915/7114
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	28	31
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 months	18 months
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of Mr Hughes Cameron Street Ashburton
Folio	9553
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. John G. Gray

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).