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 2305

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

131

16 February 1915

Hugh Wilson
Olive Raeburn Main

Hugh Wilson
Olive Raiburn Main
💍 1915/7885

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

25
24

Sydenham
Linwood

25 years
3 days

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

1558

16 February 1915

Rev. T. W. Price, Roman Catholic

No	131
Date of Notice	16 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Wilson	Olive Raeburn Main
BDM Match (97%)	Hugh Wilson	Olive Raiburn Main
	💍 1915/7885
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Linwood
Length of Residence	25 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	1558
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Price, Roman Catholic

132

16 February 1915

John Thomson
Annie Eliza Finlay

John Thomson
Annie Eliza Finlay
💍 1915/9368

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
24

Hornby
Riccarton

2 months
2 years Christchurch

St. Andrew's Church Christchurch

1698

16 February 1915

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	132
Date of Notice	16 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomson	Annie Eliza Finlay
	💍 1915/9368
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Hornby	Riccarton
Length of Residence	2 months	2 years Christchurch
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church Christchurch
Folio	1698
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

133

16 February 1915

Thomas David Berry
Florence Ellen Shepherd

Thomas David Berry
Florence Ellen Shepherd
💍 1915/7907

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

23
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
9 months

House of Mr Harris 199 Lichfield Street Christchurch

1605

16 February 1915

Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

No	133
Date of Notice	16 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas David Berry	Florence Ellen Shepherd
	💍 1915/7907
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	9 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr Harris 199 Lichfield Street Christchurch
Folio	1605
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

134

17 February 1915

George Seabourn
Jessie Stella Shelton

George Seabourn
Jessie Stella Shelton
💍 1915/8903

Bachelor
Spinster

Letter Carrier
Waitress

27
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

27 years
2 weeks Christchurch

St. Paul's Manse Christchurch

705

17 February 1915

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	134
Date of Notice	17 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Seabourn	Jessie Stella Shelton
	💍 1915/8903
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Letter Carrier	Waitress
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	27 years	2 weeks Christchurch
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Manse Christchurch
Folio	705
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

135

18 February 1915

Edward Barry
Maude Waters

Edward Barry
Maude Waters
💍 1915/9361

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

32
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
24 years Papanui

Residence of Mr W. Waters 15 Bennett Street Papanui

1692

18 February 1915

Rev. H. E. Bellhouse, Methodist

No	135
Date of Notice	18 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Barry	Maude Waters
	💍 1915/9361
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years Papanui
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr W. Waters 15 Bennett Street Papanui
Folio	1692
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Bellhouse, Methodist

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).