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 2047

District of Ahaura Quarter ending 30 September 1919 Registrar A. C. Richard

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

22 July 1919

Axel Martin Anderson
Ismay Johnston

Axel Martin Anderson
Ismay Johnston
💍 1919/6636

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

41
24

Ahaura
Ahaura

18 years
24 years

In the private house of W. J. Johnston, Slaty Creek, Ahaura

6119

22 July 1919

W. J. D. Simpson, Presbyterian Home Missionary, Totara Flat

No	5
Date of Notice	22 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Axel Martin Anderson	Ismay Johnston
	💍 1919/6636
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	41	24
Dwelling Place	Ahaura	Ahaura
Length of Residence	18 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the private house of W. J. Johnston, Slaty Creek, Ahaura
Folio	6119
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1919
Officiating Minister	W. J. D. Simpson, Presbyterian Home Missionary, Totara Flat

24 July 1919

Neil McVicar
Kathleen Frances Neale Hallett

Neil McVicar
Kathleen Frances Neale Hallett
💍 1919/6638

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24
23

Blackwater
Blackwater

5 years
2 years

In the private house of W. D. McVicar at Blackwater

6120

24 July 1919

Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Anglican Clergyman, Ahaura

No	6
Date of Notice	24 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Neil McVicar	Kathleen Frances Neale Hallett
	💍 1919/6638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Blackwater	Blackwater
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the private house of W. D. McVicar at Blackwater
Folio	6120
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Anglican Clergyman, Ahaura

1 August 1919

Nicholas Ramsden Currow
Mary Comerford

Nicholas Ramsden Curnow
Mary Comerford
💍 1919/6639

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Duties

36
33

Nelson Creek
Nelson Creek

3 years
33 years

In the Sacristy Roman Catholic Church at Blackball

6121

1 August 1919

Rev. Father Hanrahan, Roman Catholic Clergyman, Ahaura

No	7
Date of Notice	1 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nicholas Ramsden Currow	Mary Comerford
BDM Match (98%)	Nicholas Ramsden Curnow	Mary Comerford
	💍 1919/6639
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	36	33
Dwelling Place	Nelson Creek	Nelson Creek
Length of Residence	3 years	33 years
Marriage Place	In the Sacristy Roman Catholic Church at Blackball
Folio	6121
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Hanrahan, Roman Catholic Clergyman, Ahaura

8 August 1919

William Methven
Ethel May McCallum

William Methven
Ethel May McCullam
💍 1919/6640

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
26

Ahaura
Ahaura

3 years
15 years

In the private house of W. J. McCallum at Matai Ahaura

6122

8 August 1919

Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Anglican Clergyman, Ahaura

No	8
Date of Notice	8 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Methven	Ethel May McCallum
BDM Match (94%)	William Methven	Ethel May McCullam
	💍 1919/6640
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Ahaura	Ahaura
Length of Residence	3 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the private house of W. J. McCallum at Matai Ahaura
Folio	6122
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Anglican Clergyman, Ahaura

11 August 1919

Frank Boundy Smith
Caroline Rhoda McCallum

Frank Boundy Smith
Caroline Rhoda McCullam
💍 1919/6641

Bachelor
Spinster

County Roadman
Domestic Duties

31
30

Ahaura
Ahaura

13 years
15 years

In the Anglican Church at Ahaura

6123

11 August 1919

Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Anglican Clergyman, Ahaura

No	9
Date of Notice	11 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Boundy Smith	Caroline Rhoda McCallum
BDM Match (96%)	Frank Boundy Smith	Caroline Rhoda McCullam
	💍 1919/6641
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	County Roadman	Domestic Duties
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Ahaura	Ahaura
Length of Residence	13 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the Anglican Church at Ahaura
Folio	6123
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Anglican Clergyman, Ahaura

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).