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 2569

District of Malvern Quarter ending 31 December 1915 Registrar A. E. Gee

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

2 October 1915

Arthur Leonard Stewart
Helen Johnstone

Arthur Lionel Stewart
Helen Johnstone
💍 1915/5746

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Music Teacher

37
23

Kirwee
Christchurch

23 years
4 days

Avonside Church Christchurch

8068

2 October 1915

Rev. O. Fitzgerald, Anglican Minister

No	62
Date of Notice	2 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Leonard Stewart	Helen Johnstone
BDM Match (91%)	Arthur Lionel Stewart	Helen Johnstone
	💍 1915/5746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Music Teacher
Age	37	23
Dwelling Place	Kirwee	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Avonside Church Christchurch
Folio	8068
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitzgerald, Anglican Minister

29 November 1915

Thomas Henry James Madeley
Ethel Downey

Thomas Henry James Madeley
Ethel Downey
💍 1915/7079

Bachelor
Spinster

Surfaceman
Domestic Duties

24
25

Kowai Bush
Kowai Bush

4 years
13 years

House of Brides parents Kowai Bush

9591

29 November 1915

Rev. Hooper, Methodist Minister

No	63
Date of Notice	29 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry James Madeley	Ethel Downey
	💍 1915/7079
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surfaceman	Domestic Duties
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Kowai Bush	Kowai Bush
Length of Residence	4 years	13 years
Marriage Place	House of Brides parents Kowai Bush
Folio	9591
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Hooper, Methodist Minister

17 December 1915

James William Wright
Annie Gibson Marshall

James William Wright
Annie Gibson Marshall
💍 1915/7095

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

27
25

Kimberley
Leeston

3 months
25 years

House of Brides parents Leeston

9558

17 December 1915

Rev. Blair, Anglican

No	64
Date of Notice	17 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Wright	Annie Gibson Marshall
	💍 1915/7095
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Kimberley	Leeston
Length of Residence	3 months	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Brides parents Leeston
Folio	9558
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Blair, Anglican

18 December 1915

John Donald
Elizabeth Jane Syme

John Donald
Elizabeth Jane Syme
💍 1915/7081

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

36
23

Darfield
Kimberley

5 years
9 years

Presbyterian Church Darfield

9593

18 December 1915

Rev. J. A. Brown, Presbyterian

No	65
Date of Notice	18 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Donald	Elizabeth Jane Syme
	💍 1915/7081
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	36	23
Dwelling Place	Darfield	Kimberley
Length of Residence	5 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Darfield
Folio	9593
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Brown, Presbyterian

21 December 1915

John Gostell
Alice Beatrice Fryer

John Tootell
Alice Beatrice Fryer
💍 1915/7080

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

30
24

Darfield
Kimberley

30 years
24 years

Methodist Church Kimberley

9592

21 December 1915

Rev. Hooper, Methodist

No	66
Date of Notice	21 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gostell	Alice Beatrice Fryer
BDM Match (92%)	John Tootell	Alice Beatrice Fryer
	💍 1915/7080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Darfield	Kimberley
Length of Residence	30 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Kimberley
Folio	9592
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Hooper, Methodist

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).