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 2325

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

231

25 March 1915

William George Kyle McKrevey
Lily Ward

William George Kyle McIlrevey
Lily Ward
💍 1915/11634

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Typiste

28
24

Linwood
Spreydon

4 years
14 years

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch

1690

25 March 1915

Rev. F. Rule, Presbyterian

No	231
Date of Notice	25 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Kyle McKrevey	Lily Ward
BDM Match (97%)	William George Kyle McIlrevey	Lily Ward
	💍 1915/11634
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Typiste
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Spreydon
Length of Residence	4 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch
Folio	1690
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Rule, Presbyterian

232

25 March 1915

George Edward Binion Cooper
Ruby Helen Frances O'Roarke

George Edward Binion Cooper
Ruby Helen Frances O'Roarke
💍 1915/703

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
25

Tuturau
Fendalton

5 years
2 years

St. Barnabas Church, Fendalton

2639

25 March 1915

Rev. F. P. Fendall, Anglican

No	232
Date of Notice	25 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Binion Cooper	Ruby Helen Frances O'Roarke
	💍 1915/703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Tuturau	Fendalton
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church, Fendalton
Folio	2639
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. P. Fendall, Anglican

233

25 March 1915

Lorenzo De Castino Muschamp
Mary Elizabeth Coker

Lorenzo De Castino Muschamp
Mary Elizabeth Coker
💍 1915/11423

Bachelor
Spinster

Stonemason

40
39

Richmond
Waikouaiti

40 years
35 years

Church of England, Waikouaiti

4196

25 March 1915

Rev. E. J. Neall, Anglican

No	233
Date of Notice	25 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lorenzo De Castino Muschamp	Mary Elizabeth Coker
	💍 1915/11423
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason
Age	40	39
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Waikouaiti
Length of Residence	40 years	35 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Waikouaiti
Folio	4196
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. J. Neall, Anglican

234

26 March 1915

Sidney Thomas Harris
Hannah Gertrude Emms

Sidney Thomas Harris
Hannah Gertrude Emms
💍 1915/9354

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Clerk

37
31

New Brighton
Leeston

3 days
1 week

Church of England, New Brighton

1685

26 March 1915

Rev. H. H. Mathias, Anglican

No	234
Date of Notice	26 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Thomas Harris	Hannah Gertrude Emms
	💍 1915/9354
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Clerk
Age	37	31
Dwelling Place	New Brighton	Leeston
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	Church of England, New Brighton
Folio	1685
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. H. Mathias, Anglican

235

26 March 1915

Arthur Berry Coburn
Emma Dempsey

Arthur Berry Coburn
Emma Dempsey
💍 1915/530

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Lifter

26
21

Sydenham
Sydenham

4 years
18 years

St. Peter's Manse, Woolston

2582

26 March 1915

Rev. J. McDonald, Presbyterian

No	235
Date of Notice	26 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Berry Coburn	Emma Dempsey
	💍 1915/530
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Lifter
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	4 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Manse, Woolston
Folio	2582
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McDonald, Presbyterian

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).