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 2283

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1915

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

8 January 1915

Frank Percival Edward Sproule
Mary Beaton

Frank Percival Edward Sprosen
Mary Beaton
💍 1915/12202

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Dressmaker

21
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
Life

St Mary's Church Addington

1651

8 January 1915

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	21
Date of Notice	8 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Percival Edward Sproule	Mary Beaton
BDM Match (95%)	Frank Percival Edward Sprosen	Mary Beaton
	💍 1915/12202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Dressmaker
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Addington
Folio	1651
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

8 January 1915

Edward Grey
Ada Margaret Shanks

Edward Grey
Ada Margaret Shanks
💍 1915/9267

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Shop Assistant

27
21

Sockburn
Linwood

2 years
17 years

House of Mr A. Shanks, 57 Boydesley St. Linwood

1647

8 January 1915

Rev. J. McDonald, Presbyterian

No	22
Date of Notice	8 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Grey	Ada Margaret Shanks
	💍 1915/9267
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Shop Assistant
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Sockburn	Linwood
Length of Residence	2 years	17 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr A. Shanks, 57 Boydesley St. Linwood
Folio	1647
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McDonald, Presbyterian

9 January 1915

Albert George Morgan
Martha Annie Nicholas

Albert George Morgan
Martha Annie Nicholas
💍 1915/7922

Divorced Decree absolute 25.11.1914
Widow 4.4.1914

Shopkeeper
Shopkeeper

45
45

Sockburn
Sockburn

6 months
4 years

Methodist Church Upper Riccarton

1719

9 January 1915

Rev. A. Peters, Methodist

No	23
Date of Notice	9 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert George Morgan	Martha Annie Nicholas
	💍 1915/7922
Condition	Divorced Decree absolute 25.11.1914	Widow 4.4.1914
Profession	Shopkeeper	Shopkeeper
Age	45	45
Dwelling Place	Sockburn	Sockburn
Length of Residence	6 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Upper Riccarton
Folio	1719
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Peters, Methodist

9 January 1915

Albert Eldred Orchard
Beatrice Marion Mackintosh

Albert Eldred Orchard
Beatrice Marion Mackintosh
💍 1915/9268

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer
Tailoress

23
20

St. Albans
Woolston

Life
Life

Methodist Church Opawa

1648

John Mackintosh Father

9 January 1915

Rev. W. Laycock, Methodist

No	24
Date of Notice	9 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Eldred Orchard	Beatrice Marion Mackintosh
	💍 1915/9268
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer	Tailoress
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Woolston
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Opawa
Folio	1648
Consent	John Mackintosh Father
Date of Certificate	9 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Laycock, Methodist

9 January 1915

Gilbert Edward Archey
Myrtle Florence Gee

Gilbert Edward Archey
Myrtle Florence Gee
💍 1915/10675

Bachelor
Spinster

Assistant Curator Canterbury Museum

24
21

Christchurch
Cashmere Hills

4 months
21 years

St. Michaels Church Christchurch

3486

9 January 1915

Rev. Canon W. G. Burton, Anglican

No	25
Date of Notice	9 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Edward Archey	Myrtle Florence Gee
	💍 1915/10675
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Assistant Curator Canterbury Museum
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Cashmere Hills
Length of Residence	4 months	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church Christchurch
Folio	3486
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon W. G. Burton, Anglican

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).