Intentions to Marry, 1919 Kaikoura to Christchurch

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840485, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1919 is bound in seven volumes (a to g) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1919e contains pages 2001-2520, covering districts from Kaikoura to Christchurch

Page 2031

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 June 1919 Registrar R. E. Butcher

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 May 1919

Harold James Robertson
Constance Clara Dayman

Harold James Robertson
Constance Clara Dayman
💍 1919/3839

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Domestic

25
22

Blenheim
Nelson

2 years
22 years

Cathedral, Nelson

19/3750

19 May 1919

The Rev. Dean Weeks, Church of England

No	28
Date of Notice	19 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold James Robertson	Constance Clara Dayman
	💍 1919/3839
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Domestic
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Nelson
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	19/3750
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1919
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Dean Weeks, Church of England

26 May 1919

Michael McKee
Caroline Mary Gardiner

Michael McKee
Caroline Mary Gardiner
💍 1919/3735

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

31
21

Seddon
Tua Marina

5 years
12 years

Catholic Church, Blenheim

19/3696

26 May 1919

Rev. H. J. Herring, Roman Catholic

No	29
Date of Notice	26 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael McKee	Caroline Mary Gardiner
	💍 1919/3735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Seddon	Tua Marina
Length of Residence	5 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	19/3696
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Herring, Roman Catholic

26 May 1919

John Russell Wemyss
Agnes Noria Eves

John Russell Wemyss
Agnes Noria Eves
💍 1919/3736

Bachelor
Spinster

Surfaceman N.Z.R.
Domestic

30
27

Seddon
Renwicktown

30 years
25 years

Residence of Mr. Gee, Renwicktown

19/3697

26 May 1919

Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	30
Date of Notice	26 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Russell Wemyss	Agnes Noria Eves
	💍 1919/3736
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surfaceman N.Z.R.	Domestic
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Seddon	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	30 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Gee, Renwicktown
Folio	19/3697
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

27 May 1919

Thomas Benjamin Yardley
Gertrude Adelaide Boyes

Thomas Benjamin Yardley
Gertrude Adelaide Boyes
💍 1919/3737

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Servant
Domestic

32
22

Tua Marina
Tua Marina

3 days
22 years

Methodist Church, Tua Marina

19/3698

27 May 1919

Rev. H. Ryan, Methodist Church

No	31
Date of Notice	27 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Benjamin Yardley	Gertrude Adelaide Boyes
	💍 1919/3737
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Servant	Domestic
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Tua Marina	Tua Marina
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Tua Marina
Folio	19/3698
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Ryan, Methodist Church

28 May 1919

Albert Edward Montagu Wiffen
Elsie Gunn

Albert Edward Montagu Wiffen
Elsie Gunn
💍 1919/3738

Widower 17 December 1915
Spinster

Sheep-farmer
Domestic

40
29

Blenheim
Seddon

23 years
27 years

Residence of Mr. Gunn, Seddon

19/3699

28 May 1919

Rev. E. T. King, Presbyterian Church

No	32
Date of Notice	28 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Montagu Wiffen	Elsie Gunn
	💍 1919/3738
Condition	Widower 17 December 1915	Spinster
Profession	Sheep-farmer	Domestic
Age	40	29
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Seddon
Length of Residence	23 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Gunn, Seddon
Folio	19/3699
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. T. King, Presbyterian Church

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).