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 2357

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

269

22 April 1919

William Henry Peter Sowden
Mary Aldridge

William Henry Peter Sowden
Mary Aldridge
💍 1919/1257

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
36

Spreydon
Spreydon

4 days
2 years

Residence of Mr Tehsenfeld, 80 Frankley St, Spreydon

2063

22 April 1919

Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

No	269
Date of Notice	22 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Peter Sowden	Mary Aldridge
	💍 1919/1257
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	36
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	4 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Tehsenfeld, 80 Frankley St, Spreydon
Folio	2063
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. N. Scotter, Methodist

270

22 April 1919

George Henry Bassey
Lorin Amy Elizabeth McDonnell

George Henry Cassey
Erin Amy Elizabeth McDonnell
💍 1919/1258

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 months
4 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

2064

22 April 1919

Rev. M. J. Fogarty, Roman Catholic

No	270
Date of Notice	22 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Bassey	Lorin Amy Elizabeth McDonnell
BDM Match (94%)	George Henry Cassey	Erin Amy Elizabeth McDonnell
	💍 1919/1258
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	2064
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. J. Fogarty, Roman Catholic

271

22 April 1919

John Matthew Mycroft
Esther Devening

John Matthew Mycroft
Esther Devening
💍 1919/1259

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand

27
22

Papanui
Papanui

3 months
15 years

Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

2065

22 April 1919

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	271
Date of Notice	22 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Matthew Mycroft	Esther Devening
	💍 1919/1259
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	3 months	15 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	2065
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

272

22 April 1919

Albert Wrobleske
Sophia Simpson

Albert Wrobleske
Sophia Jane Simpson
💍 1919/1263

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
School Teacher

29
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
4 days

Residence of Rev. J. McDonald, 80 Opawa Road, Opawa

see 2069

22 April 1919

Rev. J. McDonald, Presbyterian

No	272
Date of Notice	22 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Wrobleske	Sophia Simpson
BDM Match (87%)	Albert Wrobleske	Sophia Jane Simpson
	💍 1919/1263
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	School Teacher
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. J. McDonald, 80 Opawa Road, Opawa
Folio	see 2069
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McDonald, Presbyterian

273

23 April 1919

George Arthur Carlisle
Ivy Elizabeth McDougall Stewart

George Arthur Carlisle
Ivy Elizabeth New Dougall Stewart
💍 1919/1260

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver

34
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 months
3 months

Residence of Mrs Stewart, 2 Haversham Street, Christchurch

2066

23 April 1919

Mr. A. K. Coates, Presbyterian

No	273
Date of Notice	23 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Arthur Carlisle	Ivy Elizabeth McDougall Stewart
BDM Match (94%)	George Arthur Carlisle	Ivy Elizabeth New Dougall Stewart
	💍 1919/1260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Stewart, 2 Haversham Street, Christchurch
Folio	2066
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Mr. A. K. Coates, 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).