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 2411

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

651

11 August 1915

Frederick William Coachman
Daisy Tindall

Frederick William Couchman
Daisy Tindall
💍 1915/4230

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

36
29

Addington
Addington

9 years
9 years

St Mary's Church Addington

6454

11 August 1915

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	651
Date of Notice	11 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Coachman	Daisy Tindall
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick William Couchman	Daisy Tindall
	💍 1915/4230
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	36	29
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	9 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Addington
Folio	6454
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

652

11 August 1915

John Thompson
Lydia Ann Davies

John Thompson
Lydia Ann Davies
💍 1915/4231

Bachelor
Spinster

Missionary
Nurse

34
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months
5 months

Sanitarium Papanui

6455

11 August 1915

Pastor W. H. Pascoe, Seventh Day Adventist

No	652
Date of Notice	11 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thompson	Lydia Ann Davies
	💍 1915/4231
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Missionary	Nurse
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	5 months
Marriage Place	Sanitarium Papanui
Folio	6455
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Pastor W. H. Pascoe, Seventh Day Adventist

653

11 August 1915

John Campbell Collins
Ivy Gladys Straw

John Campbell Collins
Ivy Gladys Straw
💍 1915/4232

Bachelor
Spinster

Military Officer

26
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 weeks
5 years

Residence of Mr W. J. Straw, 8 Rolleston St. Christchurch

6456

Wm. John Straw Father

11 August 1915

Mr C. Strand, Methodist

No	653
Date of Notice	11 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Campbell Collins	Ivy Gladys Straw
	💍 1915/4232
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Military Officer
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 weeks	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr W. J. Straw, 8 Rolleston St. Christchurch
Folio	6456
Consent	Wm. John Straw Father
Date of Certificate	11 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Mr C. Strand, Methodist

654

11 August 1915

Henry Scarvell Barns
Kassie Theodora Garland

Henry Seawell Bains
Kassie Theodora Garland
💍 1915/4233

Bachelor
Spinster

Insurance Clerk

27
19

Fendalton
Hillsborough

Life
Life

St Mark's Church Opawa

6457

John Edwin Garland, Father

11 August 1915

Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

No	654
Date of Notice	11 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Scarvell Barns	Kassie Theodora Garland
BDM Match (90%)	Henry Seawell Bains	Kassie Theodora Garland
	💍 1915/4233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Insurance Clerk
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	Hillsborough
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St Mark's Church Opawa
Folio	6457
Consent	John Edwin Garland, Father
Date of Certificate	11 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

655

12 August 1915

Edward Reeves
Veronica Laffey

Edward Reeves
Veronica Laffey
💍 1915/4234

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver

28
18

Ashburton
Christchurch

20 years
3 days

Roman Catholic Presbytery Christchurch

6458

John Laffey Father

12 August 1915

Rev. T. U. Price, R. C.

No	655
Date of Notice	12 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Reeves	Veronica Laffey
	💍 1915/4234
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Christchurch
Folio	6458
Consent	John Laffey Father
Date of Certificate	12 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. U. Price, R. C.

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).