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 2465

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

914

9 November 1915

James Foulkes
Annie Smith

James Foulkes
Annie Smith
💍 1915/5837

James Esler
Annie Smith
💍 1915/4020

Bachelor
Widow February 15, 1915

Bricklayer
Housemaid

37
28

Richmond
Woolston

5 years
25 years

Residence of Mr. James Snelling, 45, Bamford St. Woolston

8144

9 November 1915

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	914
Date of Notice	9 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Foulkes	Annie Smith
	💍 1915/5837
BDM Match (81%)	James Esler	Annie Smith
	💍 1915/4020
Condition	Bachelor	Widow February 15, 1915
Profession	Bricklayer	Housemaid
Age	37	28
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Woolston
Length of Residence	5 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. James Snelling, 45, Bamford St. Woolston
Folio	8144
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

915

9 November 1915

Joseph Eccles Todhunter
Dora Mary Denham

Joseph Eccles Todhunter
Dora Mary Denham
💍 1915/6750

Bachelor
Widow 8. 2. 1912

Sheepfarmer

42
33

Christchurch
Foxton

1 week
3 days

Anglican Church Foxton

9136

9 November 1915

Rev. W. Raine, Anglican

No	915
Date of Notice	9 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Eccles Todhunter	Dora Mary Denham
	💍 1915/6750
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 8. 2. 1912
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	42	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Foxton
Length of Residence	1 week	3 days
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Foxton
Folio	9136
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Raine, Anglican

916

9 November 1915

Norman Allard Baggs
Margaret Elizabeth Mitchell

Norman Allard Baggs
Margaret Elizabeth Mitchell
💍 1915/4855

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Ladies' Tailor

26
21

St. Albans
Shirley

4 years
5 years

Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch

7148

9 November 1915

Mr. R. Gebbie, Church of Christ

No	916
Date of Notice	9 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Allard Baggs	Margaret Elizabeth Mitchell
	💍 1915/4855
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Ladies' Tailor
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Shirley
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	7148
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Mr. R. Gebbie, Church of Christ

917

9 November 1915

William Charles Sydney Smyth
Ada Mary Cook

William Charles Sydney Smyth
Ada Mary Cook
💍 1915/5838

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Dressmaker

39
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St. John's Church Christchurch

8145

9 November 1915

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	917
Date of Notice	9 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Sydney Smyth	Ada Mary Cook
	💍 1915/5838
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Dressmaker
Age	39	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. John's Church Christchurch
Folio	8145
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

918

10 November 1915

William Henry Godfrey
Ada Winifred Field

William Henry Godfrey
Ada Winifred Field
💍 1915/7494

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Nurse

38
39

Sumner
Sumner

3 days
6 weeks

All Saints' Church Sumner

10052

10 November 1915

Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

No	918
Date of Notice	10 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Godfrey	Ada Winifred Field
	💍 1915/7494
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Nurse
Age	38	39
Dwelling Place	Sumner	Sumner
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church Sumner
Folio	10052
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams, 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).