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 2329

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

131

4 March 1919

Harvey Roland Birch Miles
Eva Gladys Wright

Harvey Roland Birch Miles
Eva Gladys Wright
💍 1919/973

Widower 10 June 1918
Spinster

Labourer
Packer

27
24

St Albans
Linwood

5 years
20 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

826

4 March 1919

Registrar

No	131
Date of Notice	4 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harvey Roland Birch Miles	Eva Gladys Wright
	💍 1919/973
Condition	Widower 10 June 1918	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Packer
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	St Albans	Linwood
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	826
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

132

4 March 1919

Prince Bale
Emma Pye

Prince Bale
Emma Pye
💍 1919/974

Widower 7 July 1913
Spinster

Insurance Agent
Cook

42
35

Woolston
St Albans

2 years
2 years

St Matthews Church St Albans

827

4 March 1919

Rev H. Hore, Anglican

No	132
Date of Notice	4 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Prince Bale	Emma Pye
	💍 1919/974
Condition	Widower 7 July 1913	Spinster
Profession	Insurance Agent	Cook
Age	42	35
Dwelling Place	Woolston	St Albans
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church St Albans
Folio	827
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev H. Hore, Anglican

133

5 March 1919

Charles John McKay
Rebecca Witte

Charles John McKay
Rebecca Witte
💍 1919/975

Widower 24 February 1915
Spinster

Retired Hotelkeeper

49
48

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
20 years

St Johns Church Christchurch

828

5 March 1919

Rev P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	133
Date of Notice	5 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles John McKay	Rebecca Witte
	💍 1919/975
Condition	Widower 24 February 1915	Spinster
Profession	Retired Hotelkeeper
Age	49	48
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Church Christchurch
Folio	828
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev P. J. Cocks, Anglican

134

5 March 1919

Harry Maurice Crosleigh Dampier-Crossley
Mabel Leslie Rutherford

Harry Maurice Croslegh Dampier-Crossley
Mabel Leslie Rutherford
💍 1919/976

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

32
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St Andrews Church Christchurch

829

5 March 1919

Rev R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

No	134
Date of Notice	5 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Maurice Crosleigh Dampier-Crossley	Mabel Leslie Rutherford
BDM Match (99%)	Harry Maurice Croslegh Dampier-Crossley	Mabel Leslie Rutherford
	💍 1919/976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Andrews Church Christchurch
Folio	829
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

135

6 March 1919

James Rennie
Florence Ethel Willoughby

James Rennie
Florence Ethel Willoughby
💍 1919/977

Bachelor
Widow 13 May 1914

Railway Employee

32
37

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

830

6 March 1919

Rev J. Fogarty, Roman Catholic

No	135
Date of Notice	6 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Rennie	Florence Ethel Willoughby
	💍 1919/977
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 13 May 1914
Profession	Railway Employee
Age	32	37
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	830
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Fogarty, Roman Catholic

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).