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 2473

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 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

953

22 November 1915

Sydney Alexander Murray
Margaret MacFarlane

Sydney Alexander Murray
Margaret McFarlane
💍 1915/5803

Divorced
Spinster

Marine Engineer
Saleswoman

42
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Presbyterian Manse, 30 Latimer Square, Christchurch

8166

22 November 1915

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	953
Date of Notice	22 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Alexander Murray	Margaret MacFarlane
BDM Match (97%)	Sydney Alexander Murray	Margaret McFarlane
	💍 1915/5803
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Marine Engineer	Saleswoman
Age	42	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, 30 Latimer Square, Christchurch
Folio	8166
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

955

22 November 1915

Ernest Henry Greenfield
Beatrice Ellinor Neal

Ernest Henry Greenfield
Beatrice Ellinor Heal
💍 1915/39

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller

27
26

St. Albans
St. Albans

15 years
4 months

St. Matthews Church, Christchurch

9987

22 November 1915

Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

No	955
Date of Notice	22 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Henry Greenfield	Beatrice Ellinor Neal
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest Henry Greenfield	Beatrice Ellinor Heal
	💍 1915/39
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	15 years	4 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Christchurch
Folio	9987
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

956

22 November 1915

Alexander William Spence
Mary Henrietta Stewart

Alexander William Spence
Mary Henrietta Stewart
💍 1915/5810

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist's Assistant

23
25

St. Albans
Spreydon

11 months
14 months

St. John's Church, Christchurch

8167

22 November 1915

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	956
Date of Notice	22 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander William Spence	Mary Henrietta Stewart
	💍 1915/5810
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist's Assistant
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Spreydon
Length of Residence	11 months	14 months
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	8167
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

957

22 November 1915

William Mentor Nielsen
Annie Evelyn Smith

William Mentor Nelsen
Annie Evelyn Smith
💍 1915/1024

William Henry Hammett
Annie Isabella Smith
💍 1915/4344

Bachelor
Spinster

Waterside Worker
Tailoress

26
24

Christchurch
Linwood

3 days
9 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

7293

22 November 1915

Rev. T. W. Price, Roman Catholic

No	957
Date of Notice	22 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Mentor Nielsen	Annie Evelyn Smith
BDM Match (98%)	William Mentor Nelsen	Annie Evelyn Smith
	💍 1915/1024
BDM Match (60%)	William Henry Hammett	Annie Isabella Smith
	💍 1915/4344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waterside Worker	Tailoress
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	7293
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Price, Roman Catholic

958

22 November 1915

Leslie Robert Hood
Minnie Amelia Jeannette Jones

Leslie Robert Hood
Minnie Amelia Jeanette Jones
💍 1915/7556

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer

25
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
4 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

10013

22 November 1915

Rev. H. D. Burton, Anglican

No	958
Date of Notice	22 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Robert Hood	Minnie Amelia Jeannette Jones
BDM Match (98%)	Leslie Robert Hood	Minnie Amelia Jeanette Jones
	💍 1915/7556
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	10013
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. D. Burton, 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).