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 2401

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

481

10 July 1919

Harold Hiddlestone
Winifred Emily Smith

Harold Hiddleskine
Winifred Emily Smith
💍 1919/5051

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Machinist

20
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 months
9 months

Baptist Church Cambridge Terrace Christchurch

4283

Herbert Ernest Hiddlestone Father, Rosina late Smith mother

10 July 1919

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	481
Date of Notice	10 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Hiddlestone	Winifred Emily Smith
BDM Match (94%)	Harold Hiddleskine	Winifred Emily Smith
	💍 1919/5051
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Machinist
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 months	9 months
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Cambridge Terrace Christchurch
Folio	4283
Consent	Herbert Ernest Hiddlestone Father, Rosina late Smith mother
Date of Certificate	10 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

482

10 July 1919

Robert William Patrick Gibbons
Violet Gwendoline Maud Beaumont

Robert William Patrick Gibbens
Violet Gwendoline Maud Beaumont
💍 1919/4185

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

25
20

Sydenham
Christchurch

3 years
Life

Residence of Mr. C. Beaumont 4 Montreal Street Christchurch

4243

Albert William Beaumont Father

10 July 1919

Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

No	482
Date of Notice	10 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert William Patrick Gibbons	Violet Gwendoline Maud Beaumont
BDM Match (98%)	Robert William Patrick Gibbens	Violet Gwendoline Maud Beaumont
	💍 1919/4185
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. C. Beaumont 4 Montreal Street Christchurch
Folio	4243
Consent	Albert William Beaumont Father
Date of Certificate	10 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

483

11 July 1919

John Minnis
Janet Grant

John Minnis
Janet Grant
💍 1919/4187

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

35
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

St. Mary's church Addington

4244

11 July 1919

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	483
Date of Notice	11 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Minnis	Janet Grant
	💍 1919/4187
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's church Addington
Folio	4244
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

484

11 July 1919

John Vincent Bould
Ivy Irene Key

John Vincent Bould
Ivy Irene Key
💍 1919/4188

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman
Tailoress

28
21

Christchurch
Woolston

5 years
21 years

St Mark's Church Opawa

4245

11 July 1919

Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

No	484
Date of Notice	11 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Vincent Bould	Ivy Irene Key
	💍 1919/4188
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman	Tailoress
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Woolston
Length of Residence	5 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St Mark's Church Opawa
Folio	4245
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

485

11 July 1919

James Papps
Christina Emily Frances Bradley

James Papps
Christina Emily Frances Bradley
💍 1919/4189

Widower 30.12.1916
Widow 16.9.1918

Gasfitter

63
49

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
16 years

St. Luke's Church Christchurch

4246

11 July 1919

Rev. F. N. Taylor, Anglican

No	485
Date of Notice	11 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Papps	Christina Emily Frances Bradley
	💍 1919/4189
Condition	Widower 30.12.1916	Widow 16.9.1918
Profession	Gasfitter
Age	63	49
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church Christchurch
Folio	4246
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. N. Taylor, 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).