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 2677

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 December 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

140

9 October 1915

Archelaus Theodore Leslie Hoskin
Ethel May Finch

Arckelaus Theodore Leslie Hozkin
Ethel May Finch
💍 1915/49

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Music Teacher

24 years
24 years

St Andrews
Timaru

24 years
24 years

St Marys Anglican Church Timaru

9679

9 October 1915

Rev. L. C. Brady Anglican Clergyman

No	140
Date of Notice	9 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archelaus Theodore Leslie Hoskin	Ethel May Finch
BDM Match (97%)	Arckelaus Theodore Leslie Hozkin	Ethel May Finch
	💍 1915/49
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Music Teacher
Age	24 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	St Andrews	Timaru
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St Marys Anglican Church Timaru
Folio	9679
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. C. Brady Anglican Clergyman

141

9 October 1915

Francis Isney King
Mary Nelson

Francis Erney King
Mary Neeson
💍 1915/7156

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter
Tailoress

23 years
24 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 years
24 years

Catholic Church Timaru

9668

9 October 1915

Dean Tubman Catholic Priest

No	141
Date of Notice	9 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Isney King	Mary Nelson
BDM Match (90%)	Francis Erney King	Mary Neeson
	💍 1915/7156
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter	Tailoress
Age	23 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Timaru
Folio	9668
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Dean Tubman Catholic Priest

142

13 October 1915

Thomas Bowkett
Sarah Eleanor Julian

Thomas Bowkell
Sarah Eleanor Julian
💍 1915/7213

Bachelor
Spinster

Art Dealer & Picture Framer
Domestic duties

34 years
24 years

Timaru
Timaru

10 years
2 years

Dwellinghouse of Rev. J. Sarginson Theodosia St Timaru

9678

13 October 1915

Rev. J. Sarginson Congregational Minister

No	142
Date of Notice	13 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Bowkett	Sarah Eleanor Julian
BDM Match (93%)	Thomas Bowkell	Sarah Eleanor Julian
	💍 1915/7213
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Art Dealer & Picture Framer	Domestic duties
Age	34 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Rev. J. Sarginson Theodosia St Timaru
Folio	9678
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Sarginson Congregational Minister

143

19 October 1915

Arnold John Brinn King
Josie Agnes Young

Arnold John Brinn King
Jessie Agnes Young
💍 1915/7191

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

32 years
26 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 years
26 years

Dwellinghouse of J. P. Young Arthur St Timaru

9680

19 October 1915

Rev. E. R. Harries Presbyterian Minister

No	143
Date of Notice	19 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arnold John Brinn King	Josie Agnes Young
BDM Match (94%)	Arnold John Brinn King	Jessie Agnes Young
	💍 1915/7191
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	32 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of J. P. Young Arthur St Timaru
Folio	9680
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Harries Presbyterian Minister

144

20 October 1915

Robert Henry Mahan
Hilda Craven

Robert Henry Mahan
Hilda Craven
💍 1915/7192

Bachelor
Spinster

Photographer
Blouse Specialist

29 years
23 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 1/2 years
3 1/2 years

Chalmers Church Timaru

9681

20 October 1915

Rev. E. R. Harries Presbyterian Minister

No	144
Date of Notice	20 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Mahan	Hilda Craven
	💍 1915/7192
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Photographer	Blouse Specialist
Age	29 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	3 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Church Timaru
Folio	9681
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Harries Presbyterian Minister

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).