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 2459

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

884

2 November 1915

Ernest Augustus Duncan
Elizabeth Ellen Rankin

Ernest Augustus Duncan
Elizabeth Ellen Rankin
💍 1915/5770

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Schoolteacher

49
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

Baptist Church, Lincoln Rd, Spreydon.

8115

2 November 1915

Rev. J. Laird, Baptist

No	884
Date of Notice	2 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Augustus Duncan	Elizabeth Ellen Rankin
	💍 1915/5770
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Schoolteacher
Age	49	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Lincoln Rd, Spreydon.
Folio	8115
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Laird, Baptist

885

3 November 1915

John Radcliffe
Hilda Fargher

John Radcliffe
Hilda Fargher
💍 1915/7419

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

38
29

Woolston
Linwood

15 years
3 years

Methodist Church, Durham St. South, Christchurch

9958

3 November 1915

Rev. J. Cocker, Methodist

No	885
Date of Notice	3 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Radcliffe	Hilda Fargher
	💍 1915/7419
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	38	29
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Linwood
Length of Residence	15 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Durham St. South, Christchurch
Folio	9958
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cocker, Methodist

886

3 November 1915

Edward Allan Ede
Cecilia Margaret Honeywell

Edward Allan Ede
Cecilia Margaret Honeywill
💍 1915/5778

Bachelor
Widow. 6.1.1913

Shepherd
Cook

27
29

Linwood
Linwood

1 week
1 week

Dwelling of Mrs. J. Papps, 104 Aldwin's Rd, Linwood

8116

3 November 1915

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	886
Date of Notice	3 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Allan Ede	Cecilia Margaret Honeywell
BDM Match (98%)	Edward Allan Ede	Cecilia Margaret Honeywill
	💍 1915/5778
Condition	Bachelor	Widow. 6.1.1913
Profession	Shepherd	Cook
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs. J. Papps, 104 Aldwin's Rd, Linwood
Folio	8116
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

887

3 November 1915

Arthur Verne Ashbolt
Eva May Bishop

Arthur Verne Ashbolt
Eva May Bishop
💍 1915/5789

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmoulder

23
23

Christchurch
Riccarton

Life
2 years

Residence of Mr Ashbolt, 270 Armagh St, Christchurch

8117

3 November 1915

Rev. B. Metson, Methodist

No	887
Date of Notice	3 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Verne Ashbolt	Eva May Bishop
	💍 1915/5789
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmoulder
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	Life	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Ashbolt, 270 Armagh St, Christchurch
Folio	8117
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Metson, Methodist

888

3 November 1915

Cowan McLachlan
Jessie Woodward

Cowan McLachlan
Jessie Woodward
💍 1915/40

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker
Housekeeper

23
19

St. Albans
St. Albans

3 years
12 years

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans

9988

Frank Woodward, Father

3 November 1915

Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

No	888
Date of Notice	3 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cowan McLachlan	Jessie Woodward
	💍 1915/40
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Housekeeper
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans
Folio	9988
Consent	Frank Woodward, Father
Date of Certificate	3 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

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).