Intentions to Marry, 1915 Rangiora to Chatham Islands (includes Otago)

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840462, 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.

1915f contains pages 2619-3266, covering districts from Rangiora to Chatham Islands (includes Otago)

Page 2669

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar Alex Montgomery

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

106

14 July 1915

Percival Dale
Elizabeth Forrest Lees

Percival Dale
Elizabeth Forrest Lees
💍 1915/4026

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic servant

24
26

Timaru
Timaru

3 years
1 year

Residence of Joseph Dale, Heaton Street, Timaru

6197

14 July 1915

Rev. D. J. Joughin, Methodist Minister

No	106
Date of Notice	14 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Dale	Elizabeth Forrest Lees
	💍 1915/4026
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic servant
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Joseph Dale, Heaton Street, Timaru
Folio	6197
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Joughin, Methodist Minister

107

14 July 1915

Jeremiah Cronin
Mary Jane Williams

Jeremiah Cronin
Mary Jane Williams
💍 1915/3973

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Waitress

30
27

Timaru
Washdyke

3 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

6170

14 July 1915

Rev. M. A. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

No	107
Date of Notice	14 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jeremiah Cronin	Mary Jane Williams
	💍 1915/3973
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Waitress
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Washdyke
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	6170
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. A. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

108

19 July 1915

Morris Henry George Cory
Margaret Mary Hobson

Morris Henry George Cory
Margaret May Robson
💍 1915/4025

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic duties

34
23

Timaru
Timaru

6 years
3 years

Congregational Church, Timaru

6196

19 July 1915

Rev. I. Sarginson, Congregational Minister

No	108
Date of Notice	19 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Morris Henry George Cory	Margaret Mary Hobson
BDM Match (95%)	Morris Henry George Cory	Margaret May Robson
	💍 1915/4025
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic duties
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Timaru
Folio	6196
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Sarginson, Congregational Minister

109

21 July 1915

John Macdonald
Isabella Thomson Murray

John Macdonald
Isabella Thomson Murray
💍 1915/3984

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Domestic Servant

36
24

Timaru
Timaru

1 week
1 week

Catholic Church, Timaru

6169

21 July 1915

Rev. C. H. Seymour, Catholic Priest

No	109
Date of Notice	21 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Macdonald	Isabella Thomson Murray
	💍 1915/3984
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Domestic Servant
Age	36	24
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	6169
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Seymour, Catholic Priest

110

23 July 1915

John Lore
Eliza Jane Robinson

John Love
Eliza Jane Robinson
💍 1915/27

John Bone
Julia Flossie Robinson
💍 1916/4674

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

50
40

Levels
Sutherlands

5 years
40 years

Anglican Church, Pleasant Point

6131

23 July 1915

Rev. S. Hinson, Anglican Clergyman

No	110
Date of Notice	23 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lore	Eliza Jane Robinson
BDM Match (94%)	John Love	Eliza Jane Robinson
	💍 1915/27
BDM Match (68%)	John Bone	Julia Flossie Robinson
	💍 1916/4674
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	50	40
Dwelling Place	Levels	Sutherlands
Length of Residence	5 years	40 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Pleasant Point
Folio	6131
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Hinson, Anglican Clergyman

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).