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 2375

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

360

27 May 1919

William Harold Foord
Ruby Alice Allen

William Harold Foord
Ruby Alice Allen
💍 1919/2395

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic

25
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 days
22 years

Residence of Mrs. A. Allen, 85 Bordesley St. Linwood

2150

27 May 1919

Rev. T. Mc Donald, Presbyterian

No	360
Date of Notice	27 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Harold Foord	Ruby Alice Allen
	💍 1919/2395
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic
Age	25	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. A. Allen, 85 Bordesley St. Linwood
Folio	2150
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Mc Donald, Presbyterian

361

27 May 1919

Arthur Ernest Brunie
Adeline Florence Aulsebrook

Arthur Egesto Brunie
Adeline Florence Aulsebrook
💍 1919/2303

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman

23
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Christchurch

2151

27 May 1919

Registrar

No	361
Date of Notice	27 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ernest Brunie	Adeline Florence Aulsebrook
BDM Match (93%)	Arthur Egesto Brunie	Adeline Florence Aulsebrook
	💍 1919/2303
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	2151
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

362

27 May 1919

Douglas Ashley
Theodora Gertrude Illingworth

Douglas Ashley
Hilda Gertrude Illingworth
💍 1919/2314

Bachelor
Spinster

Presser

25
25

Christchurch
Sumner

4 years
5 years

All Saints' Church Sumner

2152

27 May 1919

Rev. J. de B. Galwey, Anglican

No	362
Date of Notice	27 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Ashley	Theodora Gertrude Illingworth
BDM Match (90%)	Douglas Ashley	Hilda Gertrude Illingworth
	💍 1919/2314
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Presser
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sumner
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church Sumner
Folio	2152
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. de B. Galwey, Anglican

363

27 May 1919

George Frederick Hall
Margaret Jane Melson

George Frederick Hall
Margaret Jane Melson
💍 1919/2321

Bachelor
Widow 22.10.1911

Labourer

37
36

Woolston
Woolston

18 years
35 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St Christchurch

2153

27 May 1919

Rev. J. H. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

No	363
Date of Notice	27 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frederick Hall	Margaret Jane Melson
	💍 1919/2321
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 22.10.1911
Profession	Labourer
Age	37	36
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	18 years	35 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St Christchurch
Folio	2153
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

364

27 May 1919

Walter Tennyson Smith
Clara Alice Fox

Walter Tennyson Smith
Clara Alice Fox
💍 1919/2322

Bachelor
Spinster

Letter Carrier
Shop assistant

26
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
4 years

St. Mary's Church Addington

2154

27 May 1919

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	364
Date of Notice	27 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Tennyson Smith	Clara Alice Fox
	💍 1919/2322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Letter Carrier	Shop assistant
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Addington
Folio	2154
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, 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).