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 2299

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

101

6 February 1915

William Charles Trembath
Lucy Ellen Newton

William Charles Trembath
Lucy Ellen Newton
💍 1915/7892

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

34
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
Life Addington

St. Mary's Church

1614

6 February 1915

Rev. W. G. Bean, Anglican

No	101
Date of Notice	6 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Trembath	Lucy Ellen Newton
	💍 1915/7892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	Life Addington
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	1614
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Bean, Anglican

102

6 February 1915

John Edward George Rowe
Hannah Hemmings Monk

John Edward George Row
Hannah Hermings Monk
💍 1915/9399

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

28
25

Prebbleton
Riccarton

2 years
2 1/2 years

Anglican Church Upper Riccarton

1731

6 February 1915

Rev. H. T. York, Anglican

No	102
Date of Notice	6 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward George Rowe	Hannah Hemmings Monk
BDM Match (95%)	John Edward George Row	Hannah Hermings Monk
	💍 1915/9399
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	2 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Upper Riccarton
Folio	1731
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. T. York, Anglican

103

8 February 1915

John Thomas Foggin
Jessie Anderson

John Thomas Foggin
Jessie Anderson
💍 1915/9234

Bachelor
Spinster

Motorman
Dressmaker

31
30

Christchurch
St. Albans

4 years
14 years Christchurch

St. Paul's Church Christchurch

1590

8 February 1915

Rev. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	103
Date of Notice	8 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Foggin	Jessie Anderson
	💍 1915/9234
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motorman	Dressmaker
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	4 years	14 years Christchurch
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Christchurch
Folio	1590
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Paterson, Presbyterian

104

8 February 1915

Charles Kenneth Cotton
Ethel Kate Bromley

Charles Kenneth Cotton
Ethel Kate Bromley
💍 1915/9243

Bachelor
Spinster

Retired Bank Clerk

37
28

Sumner
Christchurch

2 months
8 years Sumner

Anglican Church Sumner

1598

8 February 1915

Rev. M. Gibson, Anglican

No	104
Date of Notice	8 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Kenneth Cotton	Ethel Kate Bromley
	💍 1915/9243
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Retired Bank Clerk
Age	37	28
Dwelling Place	Sumner	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	8 years Sumner
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Sumner
Folio	1598
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Gibson, Anglican

105

8 February 1915

Frank Thomas Witty
Ruby Doris Johnson

Frank Thomas Witty
Ruby Doris Johnson
💍 1915/9400

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

24
19

Riccarton
Riccarton

3 years
4 years

St. Peters Church Upper Riccarton

1732

Tom Johnson, Father

8 February 1915

Rev. H. T. York, Anglican

No	105
Date of Notice	8 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Thomas Witty	Ruby Doris Johnson
	💍 1915/9400
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Peters Church Upper Riccarton
Folio	1732
Consent	Tom Johnson, Father
Date of Certificate	8 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. T. York, 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).