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 2149

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 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

11 April 1919

John William Steeden Gill
Rosa Alice Barnes

John William Steeden Gill
Rosa Alice Barnes
💍 1919/3828

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Milliner

24
22

Nelson
Nelson

24 years
5 years

Dwelling of Mr. John Thomas Barnes, Atawhai

19/3740

11 April 1919

Rev. F. J. Ferry, Church of England

No	16
Date of Notice	11 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Steeden Gill	Rosa Alice Barnes
	💍 1919/3828
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Milliner
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	24 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. John Thomas Barnes, Atawhai
Folio	19/3740
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. J. Ferry, Church of England

12 April 1919

Leonard Wreford Wysocki
Veda Zarelle Smith

Leonard Wilford Wysocki
Veda Zarelle Smith
💍 1919/3829

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanical Engineer
Domestic duties

21
21

Nelson
Nelson

4 months
4 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

19/3741

12 April 1919

S. Tyson, Registrar

No	17
Date of Notice	12 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Wreford Wysocki	Veda Zarelle Smith
BDM Match (96%)	Leonard Wilford Wysocki	Veda Zarelle Smith
	💍 1919/3829
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanical Engineer	Domestic duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	19/3741
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1919
Officiating Minister	S. Tyson, Registrar

15 April 1919

William Howard Elgin Ames
Kathleen Edith Rodley

William Howard Elgin Ames
Kathleen Edith Rodley
💍 1919/3830

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic duties

24
24

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
3 years

Church of Christ, Nelson

19/3742

15 April 1919

Rev. E. D. Patchett, Methodist

No	18
Date of Notice	15 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Howard Elgin Ames	Kathleen Edith Rodley
	💍 1919/3830
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Nelson
Folio	19/3742
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. D. Patchett, Methodist

15 April 1919

Frederick John Stephens
Agnes Todd Allardice

Frederick John Stephens
Agnes Todd Allardice
💍 1919/3831

Bachelor
Spinster

Waterside worker
Saleswoman

41
40

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
17 days

Dwelling of Mr. Arthur William McLean, Russell Street, Nelson

19/3743

15 April 1919

Rev. G. H. Gibb, Presbyterian

No	19
Date of Notice	15 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Stephens	Agnes Todd Allardice
	💍 1919/3831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waterside worker	Saleswoman
Age	41	40
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	17 days
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. Arthur William McLean, Russell Street, Nelson
Folio	19/3743
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Gibb, Presbyterian

16 April 1919

Walter Watson
Ellen Boadicea Sherwood

Walter Watson
Ellen Boadicea Sherwood
💍 1919/3832

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Saleswoman

29
31

Nelson
Nelson

18 months
31 years

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson

19/3744

16 April 1919

Rev. Dr. G. E. Weeks, Church of England

No	20
Date of Notice	16 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Watson	Ellen Boadicea Sherwood
	💍 1919/3832
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Saleswoman
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	18 months	31 years
Marriage Place	Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	19/3744
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. G. E. Weeks, Church of England

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).