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 2157

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1919 Registrar B. Lyon

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

16 August 1919

Percy Edward Kenning
Neta Margarett Sands

Percy Edward Kenning
Neta Margarett Sands
💍 1919/6687

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist
Domestic Duties

28
22

Stoke
Stoke

28 years
5 years

Cathedral, Trafalgar Street, Nelson

19/6132

16 August 1919

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

No	55
Date of Notice	16 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Edward Kenning	Neta Margarett Sands
	💍 1919/6687
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist	Domestic Duties
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Stoke	Stoke
Length of Residence	28 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral, Trafalgar Street, Nelson
Folio	19/6132
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. G. E. Weeks, Church of England

25 August 1919

Stanton Frank Hockey
Florence Crisp

Stanton Frank Hockey
Florence Crisp
💍 1919/6694

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker
Domestic Duties

24
24

Nelson
Nelson

24 years
24 years

Baptist Church, Bridge Street, Nelson

19/6133

25 August 1919

Rev. John Laird, Baptist

No	56
Date of Notice	25 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanton Frank Hockey	Florence Crisp
	💍 1919/6694
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Domestic Duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Bridge Street, Nelson
Folio	19/6133
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Laird, Baptist

26 August 1919

Robert Gilmor Garvin
Margaret Ingeborg Yorgensen (f.a)

Robert Gilmor Garvin
Margaret Ingeborg Yorgensen
💍 1919/6695

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Cook

20
19

Nelson
Nelson

8 years
4 years

Presbyterian Church, Nile Street, Nelson

19/6134

William John Garvin Father. Charles Laurits Luis Yorgensen (F.a) Father.

26 August 1919

Rev. G. H. Gibb, Presbyterian

No	57
Date of Notice	26 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Gilmor Garvin	Margaret Ingeborg Yorgensen (f.a)
BDM Match (91%)	Robert Gilmor Garvin	Margaret Ingeborg Yorgensen
	💍 1919/6695
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Cook
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	8 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Nile Street, Nelson
Folio	19/6134
Consent	William John Garvin Father. Charles Laurits Luis Yorgensen (F.a) Father.
Date of Certificate	26 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Gibb, Presbyterian

1 September 1919

Francis John Sterling Gay
Lora Alldridge

Francis John Sterling Gay
Lora Alldridge
💍 1919/6696

Bachelor
Spinster

Shop-Keeper
Domestic duties

25
24

Nelson
Nelson

19 years
24 years

Dwelling of Francis John Sterling Gay, Bridge Street, Nelson

19/6155

1 September 1919

Rev. E. D. Patchett, Methodist

No	58
Date of Notice	1 September 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis John Sterling Gay	Lora Alldridge
	💍 1919/6696
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shop-Keeper	Domestic duties
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	19 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Francis John Sterling Gay, Bridge Street, Nelson
Folio	19/6155
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. D. Patchett, Methodist

8 September 1919

Walter Wilfred McCracken
Mabel Anne Percival

Walter Wilfred McCracken
Mabel Anne Percival
💍 1919/6697

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

23
23

Nelson
Nelson

21 years
23 years

Christ church Cathedral, Nelson

19/6156

8 September 1919

Rev. G. E. Weeks, Church of England

No	59
Date of Notice	8 September 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Wilfred McCracken	Mabel Anne Percival
	💍 1919/6697
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	21 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Christ church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	19/6156
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 September 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. 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).