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 2341

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

309

9 April 1915

Frank Edgar Reaby
Louisa May Coleman

Frank Edgar Reaky
Louisa May Coleman
💍 1915/13969

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

27
24

Burwood
St Albans

life
life

Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch

2542

9 April 1915

Rev J J North, Baptist

No	309
Date of Notice	9 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Edgar Reaby	Louisa May Coleman
BDM Match (97%)	Frank Edgar Reaky	Louisa May Coleman
	💍 1915/13969
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Burwood	St Albans
Length of Residence	life	life
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch
Folio	2542
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J J North, Baptist

310

9 April 1915

Charles Michael Lagan
Anastasia Boffey

Charles Michael Lagan
Anastasia Coffey
💍 1915/9650

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Dressmaker

26
25

Addington
St Albans

4 years
5 days

Roman Catholic Cathedral Barbadoes Street Christchurch

2483

9 April 1915

Rev W J Hyland, Roman Catholic

No	310
Date of Notice	9 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Michael Lagan	Anastasia Boffey
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Michael Lagan	Anastasia Coffey
	💍 1915/9650
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Addington	St Albans
Length of Residence	4 years	5 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Barbadoes Street Christchurch
Folio	2483
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev W J Hyland, Roman Catholic

311

9 April 1915

Andrew Johnston
Georgina Pavey Merrie

Andrew Johnston
Georgina Pavey Merrie
💍 1915/9649

Bachelor
Spinster

Sergeant Major Artificer
Dressmaker

46
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
life

St John's Church Christchurch

2482

9 April 1915

Rev P J Cocks, Anglican

No	311
Date of Notice	9 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Johnston	Georgina Pavey Merrie
	💍 1915/9649
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sergeant Major Artificer	Dressmaker
Age	46	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	life
Marriage Place	St John's Church Christchurch
Folio	2482
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev P J Cocks, Anglican

312

10 April 1915

Joseph Henry Hampton
Julia Lilian Brookman

Joseph Henry Hampton
Julia Lilian Brookman
💍 1915/509

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St Lukes Church Manchester Street Christchurch

2585

10 April 1915

Rev C J Mutter, Anglican

No	312
Date of Notice	10 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Hampton	Julia Lilian Brookman
	💍 1915/509
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Lukes Church Manchester Street Christchurch
Folio	2585
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev C J Mutter, Anglican

313

10 April 1915

Edward Joseph DeThier
Mary Craig Barr

Edward Joseph De Thier
Mary Craig Barr
💍 1915/492

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

33
25

Redcliffs
Redcliffs

2 years
13 years

Residence of Hon John Barr Redcliffs

2543

10 April 1915

Rev T McDonald, Presbyterian

No	313
Date of Notice	10 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Joseph DeThier	Mary Craig Barr
BDM Match (98%)	Edward Joseph De Thier	Mary Craig Barr
	💍 1915/492
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Redcliffs	Redcliffs
Length of Residence	2 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Hon John Barr Redcliffs
Folio	2543
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev T McDonald, Presbyterian

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).