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 3155

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar F. G. Petrie

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

137

11 August 1915

David Miller
Margaret Johnston

David Miller
Margaret Johnstone
💍 1915/4090

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

28
27

Oreti Point, Invercargill
Waitiri, Invercargill

2 years
5 years

Methodist Church, Kennington, Invercargill

6313

11 August 1915

Rev. F. B. Lawrence

No	137
Date of Notice	11 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Miller	Margaret Johnston
BDM Match (97%)	David Miller	Margaret Johnstone
	💍 1915/4090
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Oreti Point, Invercargill	Waitiri, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Kennington, Invercargill
Folio	6313
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. B. Lawrence

138

12 August 1915

John Logue Law Steers
Edith Mabel Wood

John Wardlaw Stevens
Edith Mabel Wood
💍 1915/4103

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic

24
24

Awamua Plains, Invercargill
Awamua Plains, Invercargill

5 years
24 years

Residence of Eli Wood, Awamua Plains, Invercargill

6325

12 August 1915

Rev. W. Lee

No	138
Date of Notice	12 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Logue Law Steers	Edith Mabel Wood
BDM Match (79%)	John Wardlaw Stevens	Edith Mabel Wood
	💍 1915/4103
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Awamua Plains, Invercargill	Awamua Plains, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Eli Wood, Awamua Plains, Invercargill
Folio	6325
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lee

139

16 August 1915

Thomas William Hammond
Catherine Findlay

Thomas William Hammond
Catherine Findlay
💍 1915/4072

Widower
Spinster

Orchardist - woodcutter
Domestic

42
36

Invercargill
Invercargill

4 days
4 days

Registrar's Office, Invercargill

6295

16 August 1915

Registrar

No	139
Date of Notice	16 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Hammond	Catherine Findlay
	💍 1915/4072
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist - woodcutter	Domestic
Age	42	36
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Invercargill
Folio	6295
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

140

16 August 1915

Joseph Albert Beck
Margaret Elizabeth Molloy

Joseph Albert Beck
Margaret Elizabeth Molley
💍 1915/4096

Bachelor
Spinster

Laundry Proprietor
Domestic

22
22

Invercargill
Invercargill

4 years
4 years

Residence of Mrs Jno Shaw, Earn St, Invercargill

6319

16 August 1915

Rev. Jno. Shaw

No	140
Date of Notice	16 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Albert Beck	Margaret Elizabeth Molloy
BDM Match (98%)	Joseph Albert Beck	Margaret Elizabeth Molley
	💍 1915/4096
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laundry Proprietor	Domestic
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Jno Shaw, Earn St, Invercargill
Folio	6319
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jno. Shaw

141

17 August 1915

Geoffrey Chillas Henderson
Jessie Cowie McLeod

Geoffrey Chillas Henderson
Jessie Cowie McLeod
💍 1915/4069

Bachelor
Spinster

Insurance Manager
Music Teacher

26
19

Invercargill
Caroline, Dipton

26 years
19 years

Residence of Frank Lewis, Lumsden

6292

Frank Lewis, stepfather

17 August 1915

Rev. F. J. Tylee

No	141
Date of Notice	17 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Geoffrey Chillas Henderson	Jessie Cowie McLeod
	💍 1915/4069
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Insurance Manager	Music Teacher
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Caroline, Dipton
Length of Residence	26 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Frank Lewis, Lumsden
Folio	6292
Consent	Frank Lewis, stepfather
Date of Certificate	17 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. J. Tylee

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).