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 2383

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

399

7 June 1919

John Low Eaglesome
Mabel Dorothy Grace English

John Low Eaplesome
Mabel Dorothy Grace English
💍 1919/2333

Bachelor
Spinster

Woolclasser
Clerk

22
22

Riccarton
Sydenham

12 years
3 years

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans

2189

7 June 1919

Rev. A. H. Ore, Anglican

No	399
Date of Notice	7 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Low Eaglesome	Mabel Dorothy Grace English
BDM Match (97%)	John Low Eaplesome	Mabel Dorothy Grace English
	💍 1919/2333
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woolclasser	Clerk
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Sydenham
Length of Residence	12 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans
Folio	2189
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Ore, Anglican

400

9 June 1919

William Henry Drake
Margaret Sterritt

William Henry Drake
Margaret Sterritt
💍 1919/2334

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

48
26

Sydenham
Sydenham

4 weeks
5 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

2190

9 June 1919

Registrar

No	400
Date of Notice	9 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Drake	Margaret Sterritt
	💍 1919/2334
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	48	26
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	4 weeks	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	2190
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

401

9 June 1919

Harold Winston Hazlehurst
Irene May Scrimshaw

Harold Winstone Hazelhurst
Irene May Scrimshaw
💍 1919/2239

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Milliner

23
23

Linwood
Linwood

9 years
10 years

St. Peter's Church, Woolston, Christchurch

2002

9 June 1919

Rev. T. McDonald, Presbyterian

No	401
Date of Notice	9 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Winston Hazlehurst	Irene May Scrimshaw
BDM Match (94%)	Harold Winstone Hazelhurst	Irene May Scrimshaw
	💍 1919/2239
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Milliner
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	9 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Woolston, Christchurch
Folio	2002
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. McDonald, Presbyterian

402

9 June 1919

Robert Michael Cox
Olive May Bennett

Robert Michael Cox
Olive May Bennett
💍 1919/2335

Bachelor
Spinster

Commission Agent
Clerk

33
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St., Christchurch

2191

9 June 1919

Rev. J. A. Kennedy, R.C.

No	402
Date of Notice	9 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Michael Cox	Olive May Bennett
	💍 1919/2335
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent	Clerk
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St., Christchurch
Folio	2191
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Kennedy, R.C.

403

9 June 1919

Albert Lawrence Lord Brown
Hannah Irvine Scott

Albert Lawrence Lord Brown
Hannah Irvine Scott
💍 1919/2336

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot Finisher
Shop Assistant

33
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
21 years

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

2192

9 June 1919

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	403
Date of Notice	9 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Lawrence Lord Brown	Hannah Irvine Scott
	💍 1919/2336
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot Finisher	Shop Assistant
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	2192
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, 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).