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 2311

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1919 Registrar Registrar

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

24 January 1919

William Herbert Hagger
Laura Mary Reddings

William Herbert Hagger
Laura Mary Meddings
💍 1919/895

Widower 10 November 1917
Spinster

Conciliation Commissioner

55
40

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
2 years

St Matthew's Church, Christchurch

746

24 January 1919

Rev. A. Hore, Anglican

No	41
Date of Notice	24 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Herbert Hagger	Laura Mary Reddings
BDM Match (97%)	William Herbert Hagger	Laura Mary Meddings
	💍 1919/895
Condition	Widower 10 November 1917	Spinster
Profession	Conciliation Commissioner
Age	55	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	St Matthew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	746
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Hore, Anglican

24 January 1919

Norman Allan Douglas Eldridge
Winifred Agnes Blackie

Norman Allan Douglas Oldridge
Winifred Agnes Blackie
💍 1919/896

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Dressmaker

20
19

Linwood
Riccarton

20 years
3 years

Residence of Mr J. R. Blackie, 59 Avonhead Road, Riccarton

747

James Charles Eldridge, Father; James Richmond Blackie, Father

24 January 1919

Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

No	42
Date of Notice	24 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Allan Douglas Eldridge	Winifred Agnes Blackie
BDM Match (98%)	Norman Allan Douglas Oldridge	Winifred Agnes Blackie
	💍 1919/896
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Riccarton
Length of Residence	20 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J. R. Blackie, 59 Avonhead Road, Riccarton
Folio	747
Consent	James Charles Eldridge, Father; James Richmond Blackie, Father
Date of Certificate	24 January 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

25 January 1919

Ernest Edward Mayes
Lilac Wilhelmina Pollock

Ernest Edward Mayes
Lilac Wilhelmina Pollock
💍 1919/897

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent
Draper's Assistant

26
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
3 years

Methodist Church, Worcester Street, Christchurch

748

25 January 1919

Mr W. J. Hooper, Methodist

No	43
Date of Notice	25 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Edward Mayes	Lilac Wilhelmina Pollock
	💍 1919/897
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent	Draper's Assistant
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Worcester Street, Christchurch
Folio	748
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1919
Officiating Minister	Mr W. J. Hooper, Methodist

27 January 1919

Henry Earnshaw
Agnes Wright

Henry Earnshaw
Agnes Wright
💍 1919/905

Bachelor
Widow 25 August 1918

Driver

33
39

Linwood
Spreydon

8 months
6 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

749

27 January 1919

Registrar

No	44
Date of Notice	27 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Earnshaw	Agnes Wright
	💍 1919/905
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 25 August 1918
Profession	Driver
Age	33	39
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Spreydon
Length of Residence	8 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	749
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

27 January 1919

Reginald John Cornwall
Josephine Maynard Lennie

Reginald John Cornwall
Josephine Maynard Lennie
💍 1919/916

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

21
20

Linwood
Linwood

20 years
5 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

750

Alexander Lennie, Father

27 January 1919

Registrar

No	45
Date of Notice	27 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald John Cornwall	Josephine Maynard Lennie
	💍 1919/916
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	20 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	750
Consent	Alexander Lennie, Father
Date of Certificate	27 January 1919
Officiating Minister	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).