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 2297

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

4 February 1915

George Henry Halfacre
Amy Winnifred Brown

George Henry Halpacre
Amy Winifred Brown
💍 1915/13425

Widower 18.9.1910
Spinster

Fishmonger

42
32

Papanui
Papanui

5 years
4 years

St Paul's Church Papanui

1718

4 February 1915

Rev. W. H. Orbell Anglican

No	91
Date of Notice	4 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Halfacre	Amy Winnifred Brown
BDM Match (95%)	George Henry Halpacre	Amy Winifred Brown
	💍 1915/13425
Condition	Widower 18.9.1910	Spinster
Profession	Fishmonger
Age	42	32
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church Papanui
Folio	1718
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Orbell Anglican

4 February 1915

Thomas Reginald O'Keefe
Johanna Collins

Thomas Reginald O'Keefe
Johanna Collins
💍 1915/7864

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
School Teacher

25
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
5 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

1561

4 February 1915

Rev. J. W. Price Roman Catholic

No	92
Date of Notice	4 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Reginald O'Keefe	Johanna Collins
	💍 1915/7864
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	School Teacher
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	1561
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Price Roman Catholic

4 February 1915

Edmund Herbert King
Violet Mary Hammon

Edmund Herbert King
Violet Mary Hamson
💍 1915/7896

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Nurse

31
35

Timaru
Christchurch

9 years
20 years

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

1618

4 February 1915

Rev. O. Fitzgerald Anglican

No	93
Date of Notice	4 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Herbert King	Violet Mary Hammon
BDM Match (97%)	Edmund Herbert King	Violet Mary Hamson
	💍 1915/7896
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Nurse
Age	31	35
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	1618
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald Anglican

4 February 1915

Henry Andrew Fisher
Vera Irene Fitzsimmons

Henry Andrew Fisher
Vera Irene Fitzsimmons
💍 1915/396

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

26
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
3 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

180

Jarratt Fitzsimmons Father

4 February 1915

Registrar

No	94
Date of Notice	4 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Andrew Fisher	Vera Irene Fitzsimmons
	💍 1915/396
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	180
Consent	Jarratt Fitzsimmons Father
Date of Certificate	4 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

4 February 1915

William Hey
Minnie Amelia Robinson

William Hey
Minnie Amelia Robinson
💍 1915/397

Widower 19.9.1913
Widow 11.12.1910

Engineer

57
53

Belfast
Belfast

7 years
13 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

181

4 February 1915

Registrar

No	95
Date of Notice	4 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hey	Minnie Amelia Robinson
	💍 1915/397
Condition	Widower 19.9.1913	Widow 11.12.1910
Profession	Engineer
Age	57	53
Dwelling Place	Belfast	Belfast
Length of Residence	7 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	181
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).