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 2483

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

1004

4 December 1915

Gerald Arthur Maskew
Annie Campbell

Gerald Arthur Maskew
Annie Campbell
💍 1915/6353

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Dressmaker

33
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
1 month

St. Andrews Church Christchurch

8705

4 December 1915

Rev. A. T. Thompson Presbyterian

No	1004
Date of Notice	4 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gerald Arthur Maskew	Annie Campbell
	💍 1915/6353
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	1 month
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church Christchurch
Folio	8705
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson Presbyterian

1005

6 December 1915

Arthur Seymour Phelps Hopkins
Alys Maud Mary Bird

Arthur Seymour Phelps Hopkins
Alys Maud Mary Bird
💍 1915/5310

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Shop Assistant

25
20

New Brighton
Papanui

24 years
2 years

St. Pauls Church Papanui

7578

6 December 1915

Rev. N. H. Orbell Anglican

No	1005
Date of Notice	6 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Seymour Phelps Hopkins	Alys Maud Mary Bird
	💍 1915/5310
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Shop Assistant
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	New Brighton	Papanui
Length of Residence	24 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church Papanui
Folio	7578
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. H. Orbell Anglican

1006

6 December 1915

John Watt Ferguson
Elsie Laing Burgess

John Watt Ferguson
Elsie Laing Burgess
💍 1915/5937

Widower 23.8.1913
Spinster

Cycle Mechanic

37
27

St. Albans
St. Albans

17 months
2 years

Baptist Church Elgin St. Sydenham

8186

6 December 1915

Rev. L. B. Busfield Baptist

No	1006
Date of Notice	6 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Watt Ferguson	Elsie Laing Burgess
	💍 1915/5937
Condition	Widower 23.8.1913	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Mechanic
Age	37	27
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	17 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Elgin St. Sydenham
Folio	8186
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. B. Busfield Baptist

1007

6 December 1915

Albert Henry James
Frances Emily Jane Lowcay

Albert Henry James
Frances Emily Jane Lowcay
💍 1915/5938

Widower 2.11.1901
Widow 4.12.1902

Billiards Saloon Proprietor
Nurse

49
45

New Brighton
Linwood

8 years
9 years

Dwelling of Mrs. Palmer 12 Avon St. Linwood

8187

6 December 1915

Rev. J. Laird Baptist

No	1007
Date of Notice	6 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Henry James	Frances Emily Jane Lowcay
	💍 1915/5938
Condition	Widower 2.11.1901	Widow 4.12.1902
Profession	Billiards Saloon Proprietor	Nurse
Age	49	45
Dwelling Place	New Brighton	Linwood
Length of Residence	8 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs. Palmer 12 Avon St. Linwood
Folio	8187
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Laird Baptist

1008

6 December 1915

Harold Walton Beck
Eva Mary Adcock

Harold Walton Beck
Eva Mary Adcock
💍 1915/5939

Bachelor
Spinster

Drapers Assistant

25
21

Christchurch
Spreydon

Life
Life

Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch

8188

6 December 1915

Rev. J. J. North Baptist

No	1008
Date of Notice	6 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Walton Beck	Eva Mary Adcock
	💍 1915/5939
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drapers Assistant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Spreydon
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch
Folio	8188
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North Baptist

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).