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 2321

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

18 February 1919

Alfred Harry Waller Maxwell
Elsinore Frances Oliver

Alfred Harry Waller Haxell
Elsinore Frances Oliver
💍 1919/939

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller
Draper's Assistant

24
18

Linwood
Sydenham

2 years
6 years

Trinity Congregational Church Worcester St Christchurch

791

Joshua Oliver Father

18 February 1919

Rev. G. B. Moore Congregationalist

No	91
Date of Notice	18 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Harry Waller Maxwell	Elsinore Frances Oliver
BDM Match (96%)	Alfred Harry Waller Haxell	Elsinore Frances Oliver
	💍 1919/939
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller	Draper's Assistant
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Congregational Church Worcester St Christchurch
Folio	791
Consent	Joshua Oliver Father
Date of Certificate	18 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Moore Congregationalist

18 February 1919

Alfred Richard Downing
Ethel May Palmer

Alfred Richard Downing
Ethel May Palmer
💍 1919/940

Bachelor
Spinster

Flourmiller
Typiste

25
20

Riccarton
Linwood

25 years
20 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

792

Albert Cooper Palmer (father)

18 February 1919

Registrar

No	92
Date of Notice	18 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Richard Downing	Ethel May Palmer
	💍 1919/940
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flourmiller	Typiste
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Linwood
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	792
Consent	Albert Cooper Palmer (father)
Date of Certificate	18 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

18 February 1919

Patrick Drew
Johanna Hanrahan

Patrick Drew
Johanna Hanrahan
💍 1919/942

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

47
45

Spreydon
Christchurch

2 years
7 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

793

18 February 1919

Rev J. Hanrahan Roman Catholic

No	93
Date of Notice	18 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Drew	Johanna Hanrahan
	💍 1919/942
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	47	45
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	793
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Hanrahan Roman Catholic

19 February 1919

Arthur Samuel Boaz
Mary Emma Tomlinson

Arthur Samuel Boaz
Mary Emma Tomilson
💍 1919/1212

Widower Dec 8 1918
Spinster

Labourer

27
23

Hillsborough
St Albans

27 years
10 years

St Mary's Church Manchester St. Christchurch

1716

19 February 1919

Rev P. Regnault Roman Catholic

No	94
Date of Notice	19 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Samuel Boaz	Mary Emma Tomlinson
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur Samuel Boaz	Mary Emma Tomilson
	💍 1919/1212
Condition	Widower Dec 8 1918	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Hillsborough	St Albans
Length of Residence	27 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Manchester St. Christchurch
Folio	1716
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev P. Regnault Roman Catholic

20 February 1919

Ernest John Cook
Lilian Eliza Mary Cooke

Ernest John Cook
Lilian Eliza Mary Cooke
💍 1919/943

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

37
31

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 weeks
2 weeks

Gospel Mission Sydenham

794

20 February 1919

Rev W Walker Methodist

No	95
Date of Notice	20 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest John Cook	Lilian Eliza Mary Cooke
	💍 1919/943
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	37	31
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Gospel Mission Sydenham
Folio	794
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev W Walker Methodist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).