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 2449

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

834

14 October 1915

Hugh Crawford Murray
Ellen Jane Belcher

Hugh Crawford Murray
Ellen Jane Belcher
💍 1915/5735

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

36
45

Christchurch
Papanui

4 years
21 years

St. Paul's Church Christchurch

8081

14 October 1915

Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

No	834
Date of Notice	14 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Crawford Murray	Ellen Jane Belcher
	💍 1915/5735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	36	45
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Papanui
Length of Residence	4 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Christchurch
Folio	8081
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

835

15 October 1915

James Hutchinson Vartha
Agnes Gibb

James Hutchinson Vartha
Agnes Gibb
💍 1915/5736

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

34
32

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 days
25 years

St. Andrew's Manse Christchurch

8082

15 October 1915

Rev. A. T. Thompson Presbyterian

No	835
Date of Notice	15 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hutchinson Vartha	Agnes Gibb
	💍 1915/5736
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	34	32
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse Christchurch
Folio	8082
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson Presbyterian

836

15 October 1915

William Longdin
Elsie Teresa McGregor

William Longdin
Elsie Teresa McGregor
💍 1915/1030

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Tailoress

27
21

Christchurch
St. Albans

Life
Life

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

7299

15 October 1915

Rev. J. Long R. C.

No	836
Date of Notice	15 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Longdin	Elsie Teresa McGregor
	💍 1915/1030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Tailoress
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	7299
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Long R. C.

837

15 October 1915

Stanley Walton Perkins
Mary Walker

Stanley Walton Perkins
Mary Walker
💍 1915/5737

Bachelor
Spinster

Potter
Bookbinder

25
23

Sydenham
Sydenham

10 years
5 years

Residence of Mr. Walker 35 Percival St. Sydenham

8083

15 October 1915

Rev. C. Murray Presbyterian

No	837
Date of Notice	15 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Walton Perkins	Mary Walker
	💍 1915/5737
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Potter	Bookbinder
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	10 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Walker 35 Percival St. Sydenham
Folio	8083
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray Presbyterian

838

15 October 1915

John James Blackburn
Augusta Schimanski

John James Blackburn
Augusta Schimanski
💍 1915/5738

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
23

Marshland
Marshland

3 years
Life

St. Mary's Church Manchester St. Christchurch

8084

15 October 1915

Rev. R. J. Hoare R. C.

No	838
Date of Notice	15 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Blackburn	Augusta Schimanski
	💍 1915/5738
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Marshland	Marshland
Length of Residence	3 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Manchester St. Christchurch
Folio	8084
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Hoare 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).