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 2369

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

449

2 June 1915

Harold Matthew Sullivan
Eliza Jane Spencer

Harold Matthew Sullivan
Eliza Jane Spencer
💍 1915/9495

Bachelor
Widow, 13 July 1912

Labourer

26
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
2 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

2078

2 June 1915

Registrar

No	449
Date of Notice	2 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Matthew Sullivan	Eliza Jane Spencer
	💍 1915/9495
Condition	Bachelor	Widow, 13 July 1912
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	2078
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

450

2 June 1915

Thomas Jacques Cuthbert Wilkins
Nellie Slocombe

Thomas Jacques Cuthbert Wilkins
Nellie Slocombe
💍 1915/14390

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolteacher
Schoolteacher

31
28

St. Albans
St. Albans

30 years
28 years

Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

2566

2 June 1915

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	450
Date of Notice	2 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Jacques Cuthbert Wilkins	Nellie Slocombe
	💍 1915/14390
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolteacher	Schoolteacher
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	30 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	2566
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

451

3 June 1915

Edward Mawake Grace
Ada Marion King

Edward Mawake Grace
Ada Marion King
💍 1915/587

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Beekeeper

30
38

Christchurch
Richmond

3 days
5 weeks

Methodist Church, Stanmore Road, Richmond

2689

3 June 1915

Rev. A. Liversedge, Methodist

No	451
Date of Notice	3 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Mawake Grace	Ada Marion King
	💍 1915/587
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Beekeeper
Age	30	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Richmond
Length of Residence	3 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Stanmore Road, Richmond
Folio	2689
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Liversedge, Methodist

452

3 June 1915

Norton Onslow Taylor
Janet Aitken Donnelly

Norton Onslow Taylor
Janet Aitken Donnelly
💍 1915/13944

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Teacher

26
28

Christchurch
Invercargill

3 days

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

2567

3 June 1915

Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	452
Date of Notice	3 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norton Onslow Taylor	Janet Aitken Donnelly
	💍 1915/13944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Teacher
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	2567
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

453

4 June 1915

Charles Bennett Ashby
Gertrude Annie Morris

Charles Bennett Ashby
Gertrude Annie Morris
💍 1915/544

Widower, September 1909
Spinster

Gardener
Nurse

44
30

Fendalton
St. Albans

4 years
2 years

Knox Church, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch

2620

4 June 1915

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	453
Date of Notice	4 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Bennett Ashby	Gertrude Annie Morris
	💍 1915/544
Condition	Widower, September 1909	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Nurse
Age	44	30
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	St. Albans
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	2620
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, 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).