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 2315

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1919

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

1 February 1919

Harry Seylsbrook Bruce
Helen Caldwell

Harry Aulsebrook Bruce
Helen Caldwell
💍 1919/911

Widower 21 April 1901
Widow 29 September 1913

Accountant
Nurse

60
49

Opawa
St Albans

15 years
3 years

St John's Church Christchurch

763

1 February 1919

Rev. P. J. Cocks Anglican

No	61
Date of Notice	1 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Seylsbrook Bruce	Helen Caldwell
BDM Match (91%)	Harry Aulsebrook Bruce	Helen Caldwell
	💍 1919/911
Condition	Widower 21 April 1901	Widow 29 September 1913
Profession	Accountant	Nurse
Age	60	49
Dwelling Place	Opawa	St Albans
Length of Residence	15 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St John's Church Christchurch
Folio	763
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks Anglican

3 February 1919

Charles Douglas Lennox
Myrtle Matilda Elizabeth Englefield

Charles Douglas Lennox
Myrtle Matilda Elizabeth Englefield
💍 1919/912

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

20
20

Belfast
Belfast

1 year
20 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

764

Peter Lennox Father Charles William Englefield Father

3 February 1919

Deputy Registrar

No	62
Date of Notice	3 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Douglas Lennox	Myrtle Matilda Elizabeth Englefield
	💍 1919/912
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	Belfast	Belfast
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	764
Consent	Peter Lennox Father Charles William Englefield Father
Date of Certificate	3 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

3 February 1919

Henry James Webb Beale
Margaret Napier Miller

Henry James Webb Beale
Margaret Napier Miller
💍 1919/913

Widower 11 June 1902
Spinster

Carpenter and Joiner

40
34

Sydenham
Christchurch

34 years
5 years

St Michael's Church Christchurch

765

3 February 1919

Rev C E Perry Anglican

No	63
Date of Notice	3 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Webb Beale	Margaret Napier Miller
	💍 1919/913
Condition	Widower 11 June 1902	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter and Joiner
Age	40	34
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	34 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St Michael's Church Christchurch
Folio	765
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev C E Perry Anglican

3 February 1919

James Henry Smith
Florence Edith Bevins

James Henry Smith
Florence Edith Bevins
💍 1919/914

Bachelor
Spinster

Lineman
Dressmaker

21
25

Spreydon
Spreydon

15 years
1 year

St Mary's Church Addington

766

3 February 1919

Rev W S Bean Anglican

No	64
Date of Notice	3 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Smith	Florence Edith Bevins
	💍 1919/914
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lineman	Dressmaker
Age	21	25
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	15 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Addington
Folio	766
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev W S Bean Anglican

3 February 1919

William Smith McGibbon
Mary Ann Redpath

William Smith McGibbon
Mary Ann Redpath
💍 1919/915

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

30
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
33 years

St Paul's Church Christchurch

767

3 February 1919

Rev J. Paterson Presbyterian

No	65
Date of Notice	3 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smith McGibbon	Mary Ann Redpath
	💍 1919/915
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	30	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	33 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church Christchurch
Folio	767
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Paterson 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).