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 2337

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

289

1 April 1915

Gilbert Henry Wood
Harriet Elizabeth Baker

Gilbert Henry Wood
Harriet Elizabeth Baker
💍 1915/488

Bachelor
Spinster

Lithographer
Dressmaker

27
30

Linwood
Sydenham

5 years
30 years

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

2539

1 April 1915

Rev. H.S. Leach, Anglican

No	289
Date of Notice	1 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Henry Wood	Harriet Elizabeth Baker
	💍 1915/488
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lithographer	Dressmaker
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Sydenham
Length of Residence	5 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	2539
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.S. Leach, Anglican

290

1 April 1915

Walker James Quin
Hilda Evelyn Allen

Walter James Quin
Hilda Evelyn Allen
💍 1915/9644

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Clerk

27
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 months
1 year

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

2477

1 April 1915

Rev. O. Fitzgerald, Anglican

No	290
Date of Notice	1 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walker James Quin	Hilda Evelyn Allen
BDM Match (97%)	Walter James Quin	Hilda Evelyn Allen
	💍 1915/9644
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Clerk
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	2477
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald, Anglican

291

6 April 1915

Benjamin Bernard Martin
Mary Jean Rodgers

Benjamin Bernard Martin
Mary Jean Rodgers
💍 1915/9646

Widower, Dec 11, 1911
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

54
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
10 years

Catholic Cathedral, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch

2479

6 April 1915

Rev. T.W. Price, Roman Catholic

No	291
Date of Notice	6 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Bernard Martin	Mary Jean Rodgers
	💍 1915/9646
Condition	Widower, Dec 11, 1911	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	54	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Cathedral, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch
Folio	2479
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. T.W. Price, Roman Catholic

292

6 April 1915

Ralph Howison Nicolson
Ethel May Holden

Ralph Howison Nicolson
Ethel May Holden
💍 1915/580

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
Toilet Specialist

22
24

Christchurch
St. Albans

2 weeks
18 months

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans

2658

6 April 1915

Rev. P.B. Haggitt, Anglican

No	292
Date of Notice	6 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Howison Nicolson	Ethel May Holden
	💍 1915/580
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	Toilet Specialist
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	2 weeks	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans
Folio	2658
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.B. Haggitt, Anglican

293

6 April 1915

Charles Henry Shepherd
Hilda Edna Higgs

Charles Henry Shepherd
Hilda Edna Higgs
💍 1915/489

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Dressmaker

23
27

Linwood
Linwood

5 years
7 years

Baptist Church, Worcester Street, Linwood

2540

6 April 1915

Rev. J.J. North, Baptist

No	293
Date of Notice	6 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Shepherd	Hilda Edna Higgs
	💍 1915/489
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Dressmaker
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	5 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Worcester Street, Linwood
Folio	2540
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J.J. North, Baptist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).