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 2317

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

191

13 March 1915

John William Smith
Florence Mary Worner

John William Smith
Florence Mary Worner
💍 1915/11640

Bachelor
Widow July 1899

Stock clerk

28
44

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 months
1 year

Knox Church Christchurch

1695

13 March 1915

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	191
Date of Notice	13 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Smith	Florence Mary Worner
	💍 1915/11640
Condition	Bachelor	Widow July 1899
Profession	Stock clerk
Age	28	44
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Knox Church Christchurch
Folio	1695
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

192

13 March 1915

Walter Clark
Harriet Ethel Ada Powell

Walter Clark
Harriet Ethel Ada Powell
💍 1915/9353

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Tailoress

26
28

Opawa
Opawa

5 years
5 years

Residence of Mr. Wm. Clark, 62 Wilson's Rd, Opawa

1684

13 March 1915

Rev. W. Tanner, Congregational Independent

No	192
Date of Notice	13 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Clark	Harriet Ethel Ada Powell
	💍 1915/9353
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Tailoress
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Opawa
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Wm. Clark, 62 Wilson's Rd, Opawa
Folio	1684
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Tanner, Congregational Independent

193

13 March 1915

William Gregg
Emily Rawlings

William Gregg
Emily Rawlings
💍 1915/505

Widower 22.1.1908
Spinster

Joiner
Nurse

43
40

Sydenham
Spreydon

10 months
Life

St. Mary's Church Addington

2532

13 March 1915

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	193
Date of Notice	13 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gregg	Emily Rawlings
	💍 1915/505
Condition	Widower 22.1.1908	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Nurse
Age	43	40
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Spreydon
Length of Residence	10 months	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Addington
Folio	2532
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

194

15 March 1915

Frederick Stephen Holloway Warner
Dorothy Maud Willcox

Frederick Stephen Holloway Warner
Dorothy Maud Willcox
💍 1915/939

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher
Teacher

30
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
23 years

Anglican Church Phillipstown

3025

15 March 1915

Rev. H. E. Ensor, Anglican

No	194
Date of Notice	15 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Stephen Holloway Warner	Dorothy Maud Willcox
	💍 1915/939
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher	Teacher
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Phillipstown
Folio	3025
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Ensor, Anglican

195

15 March 1915

Harold Francis Burley
Edith Marie Sparrow

Harold Francis Burley
Edith Marie Sparrow
💍 1915/12215

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper's assistant

29
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

29 years
15 years

Methodist Church Durham St. north Christchurch

1671

15 March 1915

Rev. C. H. Laws, Methodist

No	195
Date of Notice	15 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Francis Burley	Edith Marie Sparrow
	💍 1915/12215
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper's assistant
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	29 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Durham St. north Christchurch
Folio	1671
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Laws, 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).