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 2279

District of Akaroa Quarter ending 30 September 1919 Registrar D. J. Porteous

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

4 July 1919

John Paton Hielups
Ida Nella Harris

John Paton Hislop
Ida Ella Harris
💍 1919/6745

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheesemaker
Domestic Duties

27
21

Okains Bay
Okains Bay

9 months
21 years

St Johns Church of England Okains Bay

6205

4 July 1919

Rev. F. H. Roberts, Church of England

No	5
Date of Notice	4 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Paton Hielups	Ida Nella Harris
BDM Match (85%)	John Paton Hislop	Ida Ella Harris
	💍 1919/6745
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheesemaker	Domestic Duties
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Okains Bay	Okains Bay
Length of Residence	9 months	21 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Church of England Okains Bay
Folio	6205
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. H. Roberts, Church of England

12 July 1919

Bernard Swift
Claria Belle Marshall

Bernard Swift
Clarice Belle Marshall
💍 1919/6746

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27
26

Little Akaloa
Little Akaloa

7 years
26 years

St Lukes Church of England Little Akaloa

6206

12 July 1919

Rev. F. H. Roberts, Church of England

No	6
Date of Notice	12 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard Swift	Claria Belle Marshall
BDM Match (95%)	Bernard Swift	Clarice Belle Marshall
	💍 1919/6746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Little Akaloa	Little Akaloa
Length of Residence	7 years	26 years
Marriage Place	St Lukes Church of England Little Akaloa
Folio	6206
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. H. Roberts, Church of England

23 July 1919

Robert Algy Hartley
Irene Grace Thelning

Robert Algy Hartley
Irene Grace Thelning
💍 1919/6747

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

26
21

Okains Bay
Le Bons Bay

23 years
21 years

St Johns Church of England Okains Bay

6207

23 July 1919

Rev. F. H. Roberts, Church of England

No	7
Date of Notice	23 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Algy Hartley	Irene Grace Thelning
	💍 1919/6747
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Okains Bay	Le Bons Bay
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Church of England Okains Bay
Folio	6207
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. H. Roberts, Church of England

24 July 1919

John Snath Truman
Myrtle Marie Deerick

John Smith Truman
Myrtle Marie Dierck
💍 1919/6748

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Tailoress

30
24

Akaroa
Akaroa

1 year
10 years

St Patricks Roman Catholic Church Akaroa

6208

24 July 1919

Rev. J. J. B. Seward, Roman Catholic

No	8
Date of Notice	24 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Snath Truman	Myrtle Marie Deerick
BDM Match (89%)	John Smith Truman	Myrtle Marie Dierck
	💍 1919/6748
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Tailoress
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Akaroa	Akaroa
Length of Residence	1 year	10 years
Marriage Place	St Patricks Roman Catholic Church Akaroa
Folio	6208
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. B. Seward, Roman Catholic

5 August 1919

William Hawkins
Ida Mary Newbegin

William Hawkins
Ida Marion Newbegin
💍 1919/6749

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

32
27

Wainui
Wainui

3 Days
27 years

Presbyterian Church Wainui

6209

5 August 1919

Rev. J. W. Hayward, Presbyterian

No	9
Date of Notice	5 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hawkins	Ida Mary Newbegin
BDM Match (92%)	William Hawkins	Ida Marion Newbegin
	💍 1919/6749
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Wainui	Wainui
Length of Residence	3 Days	27 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Wainui
Folio	6209
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Hayward, Presbyterian

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).