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 2397

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

581

15 July 1915

John O'Neil
Margaret Ahern

John O'Neil
Margaret Ahern
💍 1915/5294

Widower November 1913
Spinster

Retired Sawmiller

65
48

Dallington
Richmond

38 years
1 year

St Mary's Roman Catholic Church Christchurch

7586

15 July 1915

Rev. R. Hoare R.C.

No	581
Date of Notice	15 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John O'Neil	Margaret Ahern
	💍 1915/5294
Condition	Widower November 1913	Spinster
Profession	Retired Sawmiller
Age	65	48
Dwelling Place	Dallington	Richmond
Length of Residence	38 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St Mary's Roman Catholic Church Christchurch
Folio	7586
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Hoare R.C.

582

15 July 1915

James Rowell Hayward
Ethel Annie Blay

James Powell Hayward
Ethel Annis Blay
💍 1915/4263

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

19
31

Teddington
Springston

3 months
Life

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

6411

Wm. Powell Hayward, Father

15 July 1915

Rev. O. Fitzgerald Anglican

No	582
Date of Notice	15 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Rowell Hayward	Ethel Annie Blay
BDM Match (94%)	James Powell Hayward	Ethel Annis Blay
	💍 1915/4263
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	19	31
Dwelling Place	Teddington	Springston
Length of Residence	3 months	Life
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	6411
Consent	Wm. Powell Hayward, Father
Date of Certificate	15 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald Anglican

583

16 July 1915

Bertie Sutton
Pearl Cuddy

Bertie Sutton
Pearl Cuddy
💍 1915/14532

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Hand

25
21

Spreydon
St Albans

7 years
Life

Registrar's Office Christchurch

4615

16 July 1915

Registrar

No	583
Date of Notice	16 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bertie Sutton	Pearl Cuddy
	💍 1915/14532
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Hand
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	St Albans
Length of Residence	7 years	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	4615
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

584

16 July 1915

James William Purvis
Margaret Slidders

James William Purvis
Margaret Slidders
💍 1915/4264

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant

38
35

Sydenham
Spreydon

3 years
2 months

St Davids Church Sydenham

6412

16 July 1915

Rev. C. Murray Presbyterian

No	584
Date of Notice	16 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Purvis	Margaret Slidders
	💍 1915/4264
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant
Age	38	35
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Spreydon
Length of Residence	3 years	2 months
Marriage Place	St Davids Church Sydenham
Folio	6412
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray Presbyterian

585

17 July 1915

Henry Herbert Clifford
Annette Eleanor Mary Jane Thomas

Henry Herbert Clifford
Annette Mary Eleanor Jane Thomas
💍 1915/4265

Bachelor
Spinster

Photographer
Music Teacher

39
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
7 years

St Paul's Presbyterian Church Christchurch

6413

17 July 1915

Rev. J. J. Bates Presbyterian

No	585
Date of Notice	17 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Herbert Clifford	Annette Eleanor Mary Jane Thomas
BDM Match (84%)	Henry Herbert Clifford	Annette Mary Eleanor Jane Thomas
	💍 1915/4265
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Photographer	Music Teacher
Age	39	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Presbyterian Church Christchurch
Folio	6413
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Bates 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).