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 2369

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

329

13 May 1919

John McMullan
Rose Morrison

John McMullan
Rose Morrison
💍 1919/2290

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

39
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

2120

13 May 1919

Rev. J. Hanrahan, Roman Catholic

No	329
Date of Notice	13 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McMullan	Rose Morrison
	💍 1919/2290
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	39	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	2120
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hanrahan, Roman Catholic

330

13 May 1919

Francis George Summerfield
Frances Fanny Stevenson

Francis George Summerfield
Frances Fanny Stevenson
💍 1919/2291

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

31
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 months
4 years

St. Paul's Church Christchurch

2121

13 May 1919

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	330
Date of Notice	13 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis George Summerfield	Frances Fanny Stevenson
	💍 1919/2291
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Christchurch
Folio	2121
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

331

14 May 1919

Walter Harold Cant
Ina Yaxley

Walter Harold Cant
Ina Faxley
💍 1919/2292

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

30
21

Sydenham
New Brighton

7 years
3 years

Presbyterian Church New Brighton

2122

14 May 1919

Mr. J. Tennent, Presbyterian

No	331
Date of Notice	14 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Harold Cant	Ina Yaxley
BDM Match (95%)	Walter Harold Cant	Ina Faxley
	💍 1919/2292
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	New Brighton
Length of Residence	7 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church New Brighton
Folio	2122
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Mr. J. Tennent, Presbyterian

332

15 May 1919

Samuel Leonard Whitworth
Alice Mary Duke

Samuel Leonard Whitworth
Alice Mary Duke
💍 1919/2293

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner

29
28

Woolston
Prebbleton

11 years
1 year

Methodist Parsonage New Brighton

2123

15 May 1919

Rev. W. Walker, Methodist

No	332
Date of Notice	15 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Leonard Whitworth	Alice Mary Duke
	💍 1919/2293
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	11 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage New Brighton
Folio	2123
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Walker, Methodist

333

15 May 1919

Arthur Lindsey Mitchell
Delcie Edna Hindle

Arthur Lindsay Mitchell
Delcie Edna Hindle
💍 1919/2284

Arthur Lindsay Mitchell
Delcie Edna Hindle
💍 1919/2294

Bachelor (Previously married on May 13, 1919 at Registrar's Office Christchurch)
Spinster

Soldier

22
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 weeks
10 years

Residence of Mr. W. Hindle 30 Naseby Street St. Albans

2124

15 May 1919

Rev. A. C. Lawry, Methodist

No	333
Date of Notice	15 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Lindsey Mitchell	Delcie Edna Hindle
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Lindsay Mitchell	Delcie Edna Hindle
	💍 1919/2284
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Lindsay Mitchell	Delcie Edna Hindle
	💍 1919/2294
Condition	Bachelor (Previously married on May 13, 1919 at Registrar's Office Christchurch)	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. W. Hindle 30 Naseby Street St. Albans
Folio	2124
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Lawry, Methodist

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).