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 2391

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

551

5 July 1915

Herbert Mackay
Alice Eliza Etheline Grace Muirson

Herbert MacKay
Alice Eliza Ethaline Grace Muirson
💍 1915/4192

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

37
40

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
3 years

St Andrews Manse Christchurch

6390

5 July 1915

Rev. A. T. Thompson Presbyterian

No	551
Date of Notice	5 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Mackay	Alice Eliza Etheline Grace Muirson
BDM Match (95%)	Herbert MacKay	Alice Eliza Ethaline Grace Muirson
	💍 1915/4192
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	37	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	3 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Manse Christchurch
Folio	6390
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson Presbyterian

552

5 July 1915

William Taylor
Ruby Wilmot Gladys Otten

William Taylor
Ruby Welmot Gladys Otten
💍 1915/4193

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

22
21

Sydenham
Spreydon

8 years
Life

Residence of Mr J. W. Otten, 9 Cheviot Street, Spreydon

6391

5 July 1915

Rev. A. N. Scotter Methodist

No	552
Date of Notice	5 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Taylor	Ruby Wilmot Gladys Otten
BDM Match (98%)	William Taylor	Ruby Welmot Gladys Otten
	💍 1915/4193
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Spreydon
Length of Residence	8 years	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J. W. Otten, 9 Cheviot Street, Spreydon
Folio	6391
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. N. Scotter Methodist

553

5 July 1915

James Francis Poff
Beatrice Catherine Dowling

James Francis Poff
Beatrice Catherine Dowling
💍 1915/7417

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent

35
26

Methven
Christchurch

6 years
3 days

St Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch

9956

5 July 1915

Rev. J. A. Kennedy R. C.

No	553
Date of Notice	5 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Francis Poff	Beatrice Catherine Dowling
	💍 1915/7417
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent
Age	35	26
Dwelling Place	Methven	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	3 days
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch
Folio	9956
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Kennedy R. C.

554

5 July 1915

Robert Campbell Erikson
Ruby Alice Clarke

Robert Campbell Erikson
Ruby Alice Clarke
💍 1915/4194

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Teacher

25
27

Trentham
Linwood

3 months
7 years

St Mary's Church Addington

6392

5 July 1915

Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

No	554
Date of Notice	5 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Campbell Erikson	Ruby Alice Clarke
	💍 1915/4194
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Teacher
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Trentham	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 months	7 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Addington
Folio	6392
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

555

5 July 1915

Gordon Stephen Mills
Elizabeth Evelyn Belcher Gates

Gordon Stephen Mills
Elizabeth Evelyn Belcher Gates
💍 1915/4195

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24
23

Linwood
Riccarton

Life
11 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

6393

5 July 1915

Rev. J Murphy R. C.

No	555
Date of Notice	5 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Stephen Mills	Elizabeth Evelyn Belcher Gates
	💍 1915/4195
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Riccarton
Length of Residence	Life	11 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	6393
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J Murphy R. C.

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).