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 2407

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

631

6 August 1915

Arthur Milo Kidd
Isabella Dickie

Arthur Miln Kidd
Isabella Dickie
💍 1915/4245

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Schoolmistress

30
21

Riccarton
Fendalton

6 years
1 week

Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

6443

6 August 1915

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	631
Date of Notice	6 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Milo Kidd	Isabella Dickie
BDM Match (97%)	Arthur Miln Kidd	Isabella Dickie
	💍 1915/4245
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Schoolmistress
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Fendalton
Length of Residence	6 years	1 week
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	6443
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

632

6 August 1915

Charlie Shannon Young
May Curtis Martyn

Charlie Shannon Young
May Curtis Martyn
💍 1915/4246

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

28
22

Papanui
Papanui

1 year
2 months

Residence of Mr. G.S. Young, 41 James Avenue, Papanui

6444

6 August 1915

Rev. D. D. Rodger, Presbyterian

No	632
Date of Notice	6 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charlie Shannon Young	May Curtis Martyn
	💍 1915/4246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	1 year	2 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. G.S. Young, 41 James Avenue, Papanui
Folio	6444
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. D. Rodger, Presbyterian

633

6 August 1915

Walter Watson
Gertrude Mary Hassall

Walter Watson
Gertrude Mary Hassall
💍 1915/4248

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

38
23

Belfast
Waltham

2 1/2 months
2 months

St Saviour's Church, Sydenham

6445

6 August 1915

Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

No	633
Date of Notice	6 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Watson	Gertrude Mary Hassall
	💍 1915/4248
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	23
Dwelling Place	Belfast	Waltham
Length of Residence	2 1/2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	St Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	6445
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

634

6 August 1915

Edwin John Horniblow
Minnie Rachel Louise Lancaster

Edwin John Horneblow
Minnie Louisa Rachel Lancaster
💍 1915/4249

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

31
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
Life

Anglican Church Cashmere

6446

6 August 1915

Rev. F. R. Inwood, Anglican

No	634
Date of Notice	6 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin John Horniblow	Minnie Rachel Louise Lancaster
BDM Match (78%)	Edwin John Horneblow	Minnie Louisa Rachel Lancaster
	💍 1915/4249
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Cashmere
Folio	6446
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. R. Inwood, Anglican

635

7 August 1915

Henry Denby Moran
Grace Evelyn Kate Faulkner

Henry Denby Moran
Grace Evelyn Kate Faulkner
💍 1915/4250

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
20 years

Residence of Mr. S. Faulkner, 434 Madras St, St. Albans

6447

Daniel Faulkner, Father

7 August 1915

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	635
Date of Notice	7 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Denby Moran	Grace Evelyn Kate Faulkner
	💍 1915/4250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. S. Faulkner, 434 Madras St, St. Albans
Folio	6447
Consent	Daniel Faulkner, Father
Date of Certificate	7 August 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).