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 2355

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

379

7 May 1915

John William Munro
Ellen Louisa Barter

John William Munro
Ellen Louisa Barton
💍 1915/14030

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Baker
Tailoress

32
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
25 years

Residence of Mrs Barter 46 Harper St. Sydenham

2679

7 May 1915

Major E. Newly Salvation Army

No	379
Date of Notice	7 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Munro	Ellen Louisa Barter
BDM Match (95%)	John William Munro	Ellen Louisa Barton
	💍 1915/14030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Baker	Tailoress
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Barter 46 Harper St. Sydenham
Folio	2679
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Major E. Newly Salvation Army

380

8 May 1915

William George Anderson
Eleesluella Ireland

William George Anderson
Eleesluella Ireland
💍 1915/9320

Bachelor
Spinster

Machine Proprietor

32
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
4 days

St. Paul's Manse Christchurch

2502

8 May 1915

Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

No	380
Date of Notice	8 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Anderson	Eleesluella Ireland
	💍 1915/9320
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machine Proprietor
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Manse Christchurch
Folio	2502
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

381

10 May 1915

Charles Herbert Dobson
Emilie Stevens

Charles Herbert Dobson
Emilie Stevens
💍 1915/13980

Divorced Decree absolute 26 February 1912
Divorced Decree absolute 26 August 1914

Crane Driver
Boardinghouse Keeper

37
45

Christchurch
Lyttelton

4 days
9 years

Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch

2552

10 May 1915

Rev. J. J. North Baptist

No	381
Date of Notice	10 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Herbert Dobson	Emilie Stevens
	💍 1915/13980
Condition	Divorced Decree absolute 26 February 1912	Divorced Decree absolute 26 August 1914
Profession	Crane Driver	Boardinghouse Keeper
Age	37	45
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	4 days	9 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch
Folio	2552
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North Baptist

382

10 May 1915

Walter Watson
Minnie May Eades

Walter Watson
Minnie May Eades
💍 1915/13981

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Agent
Seamstress

32
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
2 years

House of Mrs Smith 612 Cashel St. Christchurch

2553

10 May 1915

Rev. F. McDonald Presbyterian

No	382
Date of Notice	10 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Watson	Minnie May Eades
	💍 1915/13981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Agent	Seamstress
Age	32	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Smith 612 Cashel St. Christchurch
Folio	2553
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. McDonald Presbyterian

383

11 May 1915

Frank Oswald Drain
Maud Mary May Johanson

Frank Oswald Drain
Maud Mary May Johanson
💍 1915/601

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

23
16

Addington
Addington

11 months
11 months

House of Mrs Johanson 71 Spencer St. Addington

2680

Carl Gustav Johanson. Father.

11 May 1915

Rev. Mr. W. H. Pascoe Seventh Day Adventist

No	383
Date of Notice	11 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Oswald Drain	Maud Mary May Johanson
	💍 1915/601
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	23	16
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	11 months	11 months
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Johanson 71 Spencer St. Addington
Folio	2680
Consent	Carl Gustav Johanson. Father.
Date of Certificate	11 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. W. H. Pascoe Seventh Day Adventist

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).