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 2443

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 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

804

4 October 1915

Richard Ward Turton
Christabelle Chambers Harris

Richard Ward Turton
Christabelle Chambers Harris
💍 1915/5697

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

35
22

Martinborough
Riccarton

9 years
Life

St. Barnabas Church Fendalton

8065

4 October 1915

Rev. T. A. Hamilton Anglican

No	804
Date of Notice	4 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Ward Turton	Christabelle Chambers Harris
	💍 1915/5697
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	Riccarton
Length of Residence	9 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church Fendalton
Folio	8065
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Hamilton Anglican

805

5 October 1915

Charles Edward Fox
Ruby Daisy Victoria Roberts

Charles Edward Fox
Ruby Daisy Victoria Roberts
💍 1915/4747

Bachelor
Spinster

Reporter

35
28

Spreydon
Spreydon

3 days
16 years

St. Mary's Church Addington

7038

5 October 1915

Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

No	805
Date of Notice	5 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Fox	Ruby Daisy Victoria Roberts
	💍 1915/4747
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Reporter
Age	35	28
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	3 days	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Addington
Folio	7038
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

806

5 October 1915

Thomas Jeal
Maude Parish

Thomas Jeal
Maude Parish
💍 1915/5780

Bachelor
Spinster

Overseer River Board

28
25

Harewood
Yaldhurst

3 years
9 years

St. David's Church Sydenham

8126

5 October 1915

Rev. C. Murray Presbyterian

No	806
Date of Notice	5 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Jeal	Maude Parish
	💍 1915/5780
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Overseer River Board
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Harewood	Yaldhurst
Length of Residence	3 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Church Sydenham
Folio	8126
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray Presbyterian

807

5 October 1915

Alfred James Francis Varney
Caroline Elsie Mary Dean

Alfred James Francis Varney
Caroline Elsie Mary Dean
💍 1915/4853

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

26
21

Christchurch
Linwood

3 days
Life

Residence of Mr. Mrs Dean, 25 Nursery Rd Linwood

7146

5 October 1915

Mr R. Gebbie Church of Christ

No	807
Date of Notice	5 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James Francis Varney	Caroline Elsie Mary Dean
	💍 1915/4853
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Mrs Dean, 25 Nursery Rd Linwood
Folio	7146
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Mr R. Gebbie Church of Christ

808

5 October 1915

Edward Fowler
Emily Cook

Edward Fowler
Emily Cook
💍 1915/5728

Divorced. Sec. al. dss Oct. 16. 1914.
Spinster

Motor Mechanic

49
35

Woolston
St. Albans

3 years
13 years

Residence of Mr Sutton 455 Barbadoes St. St. Albans

8066

5 October 1915

Rev. C. E. Ward Methodist

No	808
Date of Notice	5 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Fowler	Emily Cook
	💍 1915/5728
Condition	Divorced. Sec. al. dss Oct. 16. 1914.	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic
Age	49	35
Dwelling Place	Woolston	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Sutton 455 Barbadoes St. St. Albans
Folio	8066
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward Methodist

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).