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 2397

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

461

2 July 1919

William Budd Sumner
Laura Jane Kitto

William Budd Sumner
Laura Jane Kitto
💍 1919/5018

Bachelor
Spinster

Actor

31
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months
4 months

St. Michael's Church Christchurch

4223

2 July 1919

Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

No	461
Date of Notice	2 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Budd Sumner	Laura Jane Kitto
	💍 1919/5018
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Actor
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	4 months
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church Christchurch
Folio	4223
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

462

2 July 1919

Redwin Harry Johnstone
Elsie Doris Keakey

Rudwin Harry Johnstone
Elsie Doris Heatley
💍 1919/5019

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruitgrower
Dressmaker

22
19

St Martins
Avonside

22 years
19 years

St Paul's Church Christchurch

4224

Henry Herbert Heatley, Father

2 July 1919

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	462
Date of Notice	2 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Redwin Harry Johnstone	Elsie Doris Keakey
BDM Match (90%)	Rudwin Harry Johnstone	Elsie Doris Heatley
	💍 1919/5019
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruitgrower	Dressmaker
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	St Martins	Avonside
Length of Residence	22 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church Christchurch
Folio	4224
Consent	Henry Herbert Heatley, Father
Date of Certificate	2 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

463

3 July 1919

Thomas Thomson
Rica Patience Moller

Thomas Thomson
Rica Patience Moller
💍 1919/3111

Bachelor
Spinster

Decorator
Saleswoman

31
35

Dunedin
Christchurch

30 years
2 years

St Saviour's Church Sydenham

4225

3 July 1919

Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

No	463
Date of Notice	3 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Thomson	Rica Patience Moller
	💍 1919/3111
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Decorator	Saleswoman
Age	31	35
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St Saviour's Church Sydenham
Folio	4225
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

464

3 July 1919

Arthur Alexander Heffler
Evelyn Agnes Standeven

Arthur Alexander Heffler
Evelyn Agnes Standeven
💍 1919/4186

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

23
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 months
Life

Residence of Mr Robert Standeven 212 Barbadoes St Christchurch

4226

Robert Standeven, Father

3 July 1919

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	464
Date of Notice	3 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Alexander Heffler	Evelyn Agnes Standeven
	💍 1919/4186
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Robert Standeven 212 Barbadoes St Christchurch
Folio	4226
Consent	Robert Standeven, Father
Date of Certificate	3 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

465

3 July 1919

Robert George Brookes
Alice Maud Scasebrick Jenkins

Robert George Brookes
Alice Maud Scasebrick Jenkins
💍 1919/4193

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

42
43

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
11 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

4227

3 July 1919

Registrar

No	465
Date of Notice	3 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert George Brookes	Alice Maud Scasebrick Jenkins
	💍 1919/4193
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	42	43
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	11 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	4227
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).