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 2662

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 June 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

29 May 1915

George Elliot
Elizabeth Hatch

George Elliott
Elizabeth Hatch
💍 1915/2199

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic servant

30
30

Pareora
Timaru

3 years
1 month

Manse of Rev. E. R. Harries, Timaru

4077

29 May 1915

Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian Minister

No	48
Date of Notice	29 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Elliot	Elizabeth Hatch
BDM Match (96%)	George Elliott	Elizabeth Hatch
	💍 1915/2199
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic servant
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Pareora	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Manse of Rev. E. R. Harries, Timaru
Folio	4077
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian Minister

29 May 1915

David Gedge
Mary Ann Cameron

David Gedye
Mary Ann Cameron
💍 1915/2200

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Housekeeper

34
43

Timaru
Timaru

34 years
43 years

Manse of Rev. E. R. Harries, Timaru

4078

29 May 1915

Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian Minister

No	49
Date of Notice	29 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Gedge	Mary Ann Cameron
BDM Match (95%)	David Gedye	Mary Ann Cameron
	💍 1915/2200
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	34	43
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	34 years	43 years
Marriage Place	Manse of Rev. E. R. Harries, Timaru
Folio	4078
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian Minister

31 May 1915

John Bellahan
Elizabeth Jane Smith

John Kellahan
Elizabeth Jane Smith
💍 1915/2282

John Kean
Emily Elizabeth Ann Smith
💍 1915/7284

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic servant

38
28

Timaru
Timaru

8 years
1 week

Manse of Rev. E. R. Harries, Timaru

4079

31 May 1915

Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian Minister

No	80
Date of Notice	31 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bellahan	Elizabeth Jane Smith
BDM Match (96%)	John Kellahan	Elizabeth Jane Smith
	💍 1915/2282
BDM Match (63%)	John Kean	Emily Elizabeth Ann Smith
	💍 1915/7284
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic servant
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	8 years	1 week
Marriage Place	Manse of Rev. E. R. Harries, Timaru
Folio	4079
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Harries, Presbyterian Minister

01 June 1915

Charles George Annear
Agnes Josephine Dunne

Charles George Annear
Agnes Josephine Dunne
💍 1915/2168

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

21
22

Timaru
Timaru

6 years
22 years

Roman Catholic Priory, Timaru

4047

01 June 1915

Rev. M. A. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

No	81
Date of Notice	01 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles George Annear	Agnes Josephine Dunne
	💍 1915/2168
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Priory, Timaru
Folio	4047
Consent
Date of Certificate	01 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. A. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

01 June 1915

James League
Eileen Dela Hoskin

James Cague
Eileen Dela Hoskin
💍 1915/11596

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic duties

20
18

St Andrews
St Andrews

20 years
18 years

Dwellinghouse of S. A. Hoskin, St Andrews

4068

Ann League, mother; S. A. Hoskin, father

01 June 1915

Rev. L. C. Brady, Church of England Clergyman

No	82
Date of Notice	01 June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James League	Eileen Dela Hoskin
BDM Match (92%)	James Cague	Eileen Dela Hoskin
	💍 1915/11596
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	St Andrews	St Andrews
Length of Residence	20 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of S. A. Hoskin, St Andrews
Folio	4068
Consent	Ann League, mother; S. A. Hoskin, father
Date of Certificate	01 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. C. Brady, Church of England 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).