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 2145

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1919 Registrar S. Tyson

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

3 January 1919

Kenneth Alfred Kinzett
Edith Mary Dayman

Kenneth Alfred Kinzett
Edith Mary Dayman
💍 1919/1670

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Domestic duties

27
25

Nelson
Nelson

2 years
25 years

Cathedral, Nelson

19/1398

3 January 1919

Rev. G. E. Weeks, Church of England

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth Alfred Kinzett	Edith Mary Dayman
	💍 1919/1670
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Domestic duties
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	2 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	19/1398
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. E. Weeks, Church of England

24 January 1919

George William Hall
Esther Annie Randerson

George William Hall
Esther Annie Randerson
💍 1919/1658

Widower
Spinster

Cycle and Motor Agent
School Teacher

39
28

Nelson
Murchison

3 days
1 month

Church of England, Murchison

19/1387

24 January 1919

Rev. G. A. Crossman, Church of England

No	2
Date of Notice	24 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Hall	Esther Annie Randerson
	💍 1919/1658
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Cycle and Motor Agent	School Teacher
Age	39	28
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Murchison
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	Church of England, Murchison
Folio	19/1387
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. A. Crossman, Church of England

27 January 1919

George John Fargo
Elsie May Stratford

George John Faras
Elsie May Stratford
💍 1919/1671

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic duties

25
20

Nelson
Nelson

15 months
6 years

Residence of Mr. George Stratford, St. Vincent Street, Nelson

19/1389

George Stratford, father

27 January 1919

Rev. W. Wollstein, Church of England

No	3
Date of Notice	27 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George John Fargo	Elsie May Stratford
BDM Match (94%)	George John Faras	Elsie May Stratford
	💍 1919/1671
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	15 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. George Stratford, St. Vincent Street, Nelson
Folio	19/1389
Consent	George Stratford, father
Date of Certificate	27 January 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Wollstein, Church of England

5 February 1919

John Howard Leigh James
Gladys Ethel Bethwaite

John Howard Leigh James
Gladys Ethel Bethwaite
💍 1919/1630

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

26
25

Tahunanui
Nelson

4 days
22 years

St. John's Methodist Church, Nelson

19/1390

5 February 1919

Rev. E. D. Patchett, Methodist

No	4
Date of Notice	5 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Howard Leigh James	Gladys Ethel Bethwaite
	💍 1919/1630
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Tahunanui	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 days	22 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Methodist Church, Nelson
Folio	19/1390
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. D. Patchett, Methodist

6 February 1919

Joseph Waihaere Wells
Whanua Pani Kawharu

Joseph Waihaere Wells
Whanau Pani Kawharu
💍 1919/1641

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Assistant
Domestic Duties

22
22

Nelson
Nelson

22 years
22 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

19/1391

6 February 1919

S. Tyson, Registrar

No	5
Date of Notice	6 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Waihaere Wells	Whanua Pani Kawharu
BDM Match (95%)	Joseph Waihaere Wells	Whanau Pani Kawharu
	💍 1919/1641
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Assistant	Domestic Duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	22 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	19/1391
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1919
Officiating Minister	S. Tyson, Registrar

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).