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 2815

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

19 July 1915

Cecil Evelyn Booth
Violet Hyacinth Sudden

Cecil Evelyn Booth
Violet Hyacinth Sudden
💍 1915/4375

Bachelor
Spinster

Candlemaker

26
18

Mornington
Mornington

3 months
17 years

House of Mrs. E.A Sudden, 3 Paterson Street, Mornington

6575

Eliza Ann Sudden, mother

19 July 1915

W. Scorgie

No	1
Date of Notice	19 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Evelyn Booth	Violet Hyacinth Sudden
	💍 1915/4375
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Candlemaker
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 months	17 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. E.A Sudden, 3 Paterson Street, Mornington
Folio	6575
Consent	Eliza Ann Sudden, mother
Date of Certificate	19 July 1915
Officiating Minister	W. Scorgie

342

20 July 1915

William Charlesworth Lawson
Rita Kathleen Stevenson

William Charlesworth Lawson
Rita Kathleen Stevenson
💍 1915/4376

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller

27
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
12 years

House of Mr. J. Stevenson, 128 Stafford Street, Dunedin

6576

20 July 1915

R.S. Allan

No	342
Date of Notice	20 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charlesworth Lawson	Rita Kathleen Stevenson
	💍 1915/4376
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Stevenson, 128 Stafford Street, Dunedin
Folio	6576
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1915
Officiating Minister	R.S. Allan

343

20 July 1915

George Ernest Laidlaw
Ellen Harvey

George Ernest Laidlaw
Ellen Harvey
💍 1915/4377

Bachelor
Spinster

Piano expert

22
22

Mornington
Mornington

9 years
22 years

Methodist Manse, Lawrence Street, Mornington

6577

20 July 1915

Wm Greenslade

No	343
Date of Notice	20 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ernest Laidlaw	Ellen Harvey
	💍 1915/4377
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Piano expert
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	9 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Manse, Lawrence Street, Mornington
Folio	6577
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Wm Greenslade

344

20 July 1915

Robert Augustus Phillips
Adeline Minnie Maud Wentworth

Robert Augustus Phillips
Adeline Minnie Maud Wentworth
💍 1915/4385

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

42
35

Dunedin
St. Kilda

3 days
35 years

House of Mrs. M. Wentworth, 10 Begg Street, St. Kilda

6578

20 July 1915

R. Fairmaid

No	344
Date of Notice	20 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Augustus Phillips	Adeline Minnie Maud Wentworth
	💍 1915/4385
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	42	35
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	St. Kilda
Length of Residence	3 days	35 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. M. Wentworth, 10 Begg Street, St. Kilda
Folio	6578
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1915
Officiating Minister	R. Fairmaid

345

20 July 1915

William Berryman
Emily Amelia Brown

William Berryman
Emily Amelia Brown
💍 1915/4396

William Norman
Mabel Emily Brown
💍 1915/7151

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician

26
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

13 years
23 years

St. Martin's Church, North East Valley

6579

20 July 1915

W.H. Roberts

No	345
Date of Notice	20 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Berryman	Emily Amelia Brown
	💍 1915/4396
BDM Match (63%)	William Norman	Mabel Emily Brown
	💍 1915/7151
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	13 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Martin's Church, North East Valley
Folio	6579
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1915
Officiating Minister	W.H. Roberts

346

21 July 1915

John Muir
Ida Ann Brown Sangster

John Muir
Ida Ann Brown Sangster
💍 1915/2646

Widower
Spinster

Engine driver

37
24

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Dunedin

4678

21 July 1915

H. Maxwell

No	346
Date of Notice	21 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Muir	Ida Ann Brown Sangster
	💍 1915/2646
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver
Age	37	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Dunedin
Folio	4678
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1915
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

347

21 July 1915

Frederick George Zaffer
Veronica Gaywood Bolton

Frederick George Zaffer
Veronica Gaywood Bolton
💍 1915/4401

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet maker
Tailoress

25
19

Dunedin
Dunedin

25 years
19 years

House of F.A. Zaffer, 18 Albert Street, Dunedin

6580

Harry Gaywood Bolton, father

21 July 1915

A.H. Wallace

No	347
Date of Notice	21 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick George Zaffer	Veronica Gaywood Bolton
	💍 1915/4401
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet maker	Tailoress
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	25 years	19 years
Marriage Place	House of F.A. Zaffer, 18 Albert Street, Dunedin
Folio	6580
Consent	Harry Gaywood Bolton, father
Date of Certificate	21 July 1915
Officiating Minister	A.H. Wallace

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).