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 2323

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

101

21 February 1919

William Charles Jago
Margaret Teresa Foster

William Charles Jago
Margaret Teresa Foster
💍 1919/4107

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Packer

22
24

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 months
23 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St Christchurch

800

21 February 1919

Rev J A Kennedy Roman Catholic

No	101
Date of Notice	21 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Jago	Margaret Teresa Foster
	💍 1919/4107
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Packer
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 months	23 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St Christchurch
Folio	800
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev J A Kennedy Roman Catholic

102

21 February 1919

William Frank Cox
Theresa Monica Kennedy

William Frank Cox
Theresa Monica Kennedy
💍 1919/4114

William Frank Fabian
Ella Myrtle Kennedy
💍 1919/2337

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Laundress

28
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

17 years
13 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

801

21 February 1919

Registrar

No	102
Date of Notice	21 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frank Cox	Theresa Monica Kennedy
	💍 1919/4114
BDM Match (60%)	William Frank Fabian	Ella Myrtle Kennedy
	💍 1919/2337
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Laundress
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	17 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	801
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

103

22 February 1919

Henry Walton Phillips
Amy Elizabeth Moore

Henry Walton Phillips
Amy Elizabeth Moore
💍 1919/4115

Widower 21/11/17
Spinster

Patent Agent

46
42

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
1 week

Registrar's Office Christchurch

802

22 February 1919

Registrar

No	103
Date of Notice	22 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Walton Phillips	Amy Elizabeth Moore
	💍 1919/4115
Condition	Widower 21/11/17	Spinster
Profession	Patent Agent
Age	46	42
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	802
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

104

22 February 1919

John James Price
Ethel Jessie Honey

John James Price
Ethel Jessie Honey
💍 1919/4116

Bachelor
Spinster

Brush Maker

36
28

Sydenham
Linwood

1 year
4 years

St Mark's Church Opawa

803

22 February 1919

Rev A. Hore Anglican

No	104
Date of Notice	22 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Price	Ethel Jessie Honey
	💍 1919/4116
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brush Maker
Age	36	28
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Linwood
Length of Residence	1 year	4 years
Marriage Place	St Mark's Church Opawa
Folio	803
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Hore Anglican

105

22 February 1919

Cecil Henry Withers
Gladys Marion Kynaston

Cecil Henry Withers
Gladys Marion Hynarton
💍 1919/4117

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Clerk

27
27

St Albans
Opawa

12 years
Life

St Mark's Church Opawa

804

22 February 1919

Rev H Williams Anglican

No	105
Date of Notice	22 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Henry Withers	Gladys Marion Kynaston
BDM Match (95%)	Cecil Henry Withers	Gladys Marion Hynarton
	💍 1919/4117
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Clerk
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	St Albans	Opawa
Length of Residence	12 years	Life
Marriage Place	St Mark's Church Opawa
Folio	804
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev H Williams Anglican

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).