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 2319

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

201

16 March 1915

Albert Price
Jane Goodall Macdonald

Albert Price
Jane Goodall Macdonald
💍 1915/12217

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
1 week

St. David's Manse, Sydenham

1673

16 March 1915

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	201
Date of Notice	16 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Price	Jane Goodall Macdonald
	💍 1915/12217
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	St. David's Manse, Sydenham
Folio	1673
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

202

16 March 1915

Arthur Kempstone
Mary Ann Christoffersen

Arthur Kempstone
Mary Ann Christoffersen
💍 1915/9363

Widower, 19 October 1911
Widow, 29 June 1914

52
59

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 month
30 years

St. Mary's Church, Addington

1676

16 March 1915

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	202
Date of Notice	16 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Kempstone	Mary Ann Christoffersen
	💍 1915/9363
Condition	Widower, 19 October 1911	Widow, 29 June 1914
Profession
Age	52	59
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 month	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	1676
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

203

16 March 1915

James Russell Storrer
Isabella Mason

James Russell Storrar
Isabella Mason
💍 1915/10096

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Nurse

35
31

Richmond
St. Albans

6 months
30 years

Methodist Church, Durham St., Christchurch

2629

16 March 1915

Rev. P. N. Knight, Methodist

No	203
Date of Notice	16 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Russell Storrer	Isabella Mason
BDM Match (98%)	James Russell Storrar	Isabella Mason
	💍 1915/10096
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Nurse
Age	35	31
Dwelling Place	Richmond	St. Albans
Length of Residence	6 months	30 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Durham St., Christchurch
Folio	2629
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. N. Knight, Methodist

204

16 March 1915

Charles Leslie Diepenheim
Dorothy Grace Andrews

Charles Leslie Diepenheine
Dorothy Grace Andrews
💍 1915/504

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman N.Z.R.
Dressmaker

25
21

Linwood
Linwood

3 years
19 years

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

2531

16 March 1915

Rev. O. Fitzgerald, Anglican

No	204
Date of Notice	16 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Leslie Diepenheim	Dorothy Grace Andrews
BDM Match (96%)	Charles Leslie Diepenheine	Dorothy Grace Andrews
	💍 1915/504
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman N.Z.R.	Dressmaker
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	2531
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald, Anglican

205

16 March 1915

Leonard Pavletich
Mary Ellen Delargy

Leonard Pavletich
Mary Ellen Delargy
💍 1915/7869

Widower, 23 December 1912
Spinster

Warehouseman

43
31

Christchurch
Hakataramea

3 days
14 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

1566

Kurow

16 March 1915

Rev. J. Long, Roman Catholic

No	205
Date of Notice	16 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Pavletich	Mary Ellen Delargy
	💍 1915/7869
Condition	Widower, 23 December 1912	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	43	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Hakataramea
Length of Residence	3 days	14 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	1566
Consent	Kurow
Date of Certificate	16 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Long, Roman Catholic

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).