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 2285

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

13 January 1915

Henry Joseph Neal
Florence Rhodes

Henry Joseph Neal
Florence Rhodes
💍 1915/9255

Bachelor
Spinster

Tram conductor
Tailoress

32
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
2 years

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

1636

13 January 1915

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	31
Date of Notice	13 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Joseph Neal	Florence Rhodes
	💍 1915/9255
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tram conductor	Tailoress
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	1636
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

14 January 1915

William Fenton
Selina Ethel May Rogers

William Fenton
Selma Ethel May Rogers
💍 1915/12091

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
19

Lyttelton
Sumner

6 months
3 months

House of Mr W. Fenton, 45 Grafton St, Sumner

1646

Henry Charles Rogers, Father

14 January 1915

Rev. D. McDonald, Presbyterian

No	32
Date of Notice	14 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Fenton	Selina Ethel May Rogers
BDM Match (96%)	William Fenton	Selma Ethel May Rogers
	💍 1915/12091
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Sumner
Length of Residence	6 months	3 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr W. Fenton, 45 Grafton St, Sumner
Folio	1646
Consent	Henry Charles Rogers, Father
Date of Certificate	14 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. McDonald, Presbyterian

14 January 1915

William James Rose
Martha Williams

William James Reese
Martha Williams
💍 1915/7600

Bachelor
Divorced (decree absolute 23.11.1914)

Labourer

32
41

Christchurch
Christchurch

32 years
4 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

167

14 January 1915

By Registrar

No	33
Date of Notice	14 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Rose	Martha Williams
BDM Match (95%)	William James Reese	Martha Williams
	💍 1915/7600
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (decree absolute 23.11.1914)
Profession	Labourer
Age	32	41
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	32 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	167
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1915
Officiating Minister	By Registrar

14 January 1915

Edward Winnington
Margaret Marion Hamilton

Edward Winnington
Margaret Marion Hamilton
💍 1915/12224

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolmaster
Tailoress

33
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 days
1 year

St. Peter's Church, Woolston

1657

15 January 1915

Rev. D. McDonald, Presbyterian

No	34
Date of Notice	14 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Winnington	Margaret Marion Hamilton
	💍 1915/12224
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster	Tailoress
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 days	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Woolston
Folio	1657
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. McDonald, Presbyterian

15 January 1915

Stewart Barr
Walunia Iolanthy Margaret Ford

Stewart Barr
Wahina Iulanthe Margaret Ford
💍 1915/9254

Bachelor
Spinster

Stockman
Dressmaker

21
22

Marshland
Papanui

8 years
12 years

House of Mr Forsyth, 206 Worcester St, Christchurch

1635

15 January 1915

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	35
Date of Notice	15 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stewart Barr	Walunia Iolanthy Margaret Ford
BDM Match (92%)	Stewart Barr	Wahina Iulanthe Margaret Ford
	💍 1915/9254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stockman	Dressmaker
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Marshland	Papanui
Length of Residence	8 years	12 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Forsyth, 206 Worcester St, Christchurch
Folio	1635
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

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).