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 2381

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

389

5 June 1919

Tom Lumby Kirton
Christina Moffat Johnston

Tom Lumley Kirtan
Christina Moffat Johnston
💍 1919/2347

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

29
31

Sydenham
Linwood

3 weeks
3 years

St. Paul's Church Christchurch

2179

5 June 1919

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	389
Date of Notice	5 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tom Lumby Kirton	Christina Moffat Johnston
BDM Match (91%)	Tom Lumley Kirtan	Christina Moffat Johnston
	💍 1919/2347
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Christchurch
Folio	2179
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

390

5 June 1919

Norman Clyde Marriott
Ethel Emily Homes

Norman Clyde Marriott
Ethel Emily Homes
💍 1919/2348

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Machinist

29
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 month
Life

Anglican Church Phillipstown

2180

5 June 1919

Rev. C. A. Fraer, Anglican

No	390
Date of Notice	5 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Clyde Marriott	Ethel Emily Homes
	💍 1919/2348
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Machinist
Age	29	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 month	Life
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Phillipstown
Folio	2180
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Fraer, Anglican

391

6 June 1919

Albert Henry Haynes
Anne Dorothy Haden

Albert Henry Haynes
Annie Dorothy Haden
💍 1919/2349

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

36
27

Prebbleton
Christchurch

1 month
Life

St. Michael's Church Christchurch

2181

6 June 1919

Rev. E. Webb, Anglican

No	391
Date of Notice	6 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Henry Haynes	Anne Dorothy Haden
BDM Match (97%)	Albert Henry Haynes	Annie Dorothy Haden
	💍 1919/2349
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 month	Life
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church Christchurch
Folio	2181
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Webb, Anglican

392

6 June 1919

Edward Arthur Green
Violet Winifred Grove

Edward Arthur Green
Violet Winfred Crowe
💍 1919/2350

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi Proprietor

21
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
3 years

St. Saviour's Church Sydenham

2182

6 June 1919

Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

No	392
Date of Notice	6 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Arthur Green	Violet Winifred Grove
BDM Match (93%)	Edward Arthur Green	Violet Winfred Crowe
	💍 1919/2350
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi Proprietor
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church Sydenham
Folio	2182
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

393

6 June 1919

David Borland Letham
Jean Burnside

David Borland Letham
Jean Burnside
💍 1919/2351

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

38
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 months
9 years

Residence of Mr J. Tennent 627 Worcester St. Extension, Linwood

2183

6 June 1919

Mr J. Tennent, Presbyterian

No	393
Date of Notice	6 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Borland Letham	Jean Burnside
	💍 1919/2351
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	38	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	9 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J. Tennent 627 Worcester St. Extension, Linwood
Folio	2183
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Mr J. Tennent, 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).