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 2405

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

501

16 July 1919

Thomas Wills Burgess
Vera Adelaide Eldridge

Thomas Wills Burgess
Vera Adelaide Eldridge
💍 1919/4981

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker

30
28

Richmond
Waltham

2 months
18 years

St Saviours Church Sydenham

4262

16 July 1919

Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

No	501
Date of Notice	16 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Wills Burgess	Vera Adelaide Eldridge
	💍 1919/4981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Waltham
Length of Residence	2 months	18 years
Marriage Place	St Saviours Church Sydenham
Folio	4262
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach, Anglican

502

16 July 1919

Stephen Arthur Williamson
Lucy Louisa Carter

Stephen Arthur Williamson
Lucy Louisa Carter
💍 1919/4979

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Machinist

20
19

Christchurch
St Albans

Life
Life

Registrars Office Christchurch

4260

Joseph James Carter Father; Henry Williamson Father

16 July 1919

Registrar

No	502
Date of Notice	16 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Arthur Williamson	Lucy Louisa Carter
	💍 1919/4979
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Machinist
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St Albans
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Christchurch
Folio	4260
Consent	Joseph James Carter Father; Henry Williamson Father
Date of Certificate	16 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

503

16 July 1919

Cecil Robert James Whyte
Beatrice Ellen Bowden

Cecil Robert James Whyte
Beatrice Ellen Bowden
💍 1919/4982

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrical Salesman
Shop Assistant

29
26

Spreydon
Hillmorton

6 months
15 years Christchurch

Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch

4253

16 July 1919

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	503
Date of Notice	16 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Robert James Whyte	Beatrice Ellen Bowden
	💍 1919/4982
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrical Salesman	Shop Assistant
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Hillmorton
Length of Residence	6 months	15 years Christchurch
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch
Folio	4253
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

504

16 July 1919

Leonard John Righton
Marion Beatrice Manson

Leonard John Righton
Marion Beatrice Manson
💍 1919/4983

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter
Tailoress

36
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
18 months

St Michaels Church Christchurch

4254

16 July 1919

Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

No	504
Date of Notice	16 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard John Righton	Marion Beatrice Manson
	💍 1919/4983
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter	Tailoress
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	18 months
Marriage Place	St Michaels Church Christchurch
Folio	4254
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

505

18 July 1919

Arthur Cyril Vincent
Rata Mary Stanton

Arthur Cyril Vincent
Rata Mary Stanton
💍 1919/4984

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

23
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 month
Life

St John's Church Christchurch

4255

18 July 1919

Rev. P. G. Cocks, Anglican

No	505
Date of Notice	18 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Cyril Vincent	Rata Mary Stanton
	💍 1919/4984
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 month	Life
Marriage Place	St John's Church Christchurch
Folio	4255
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Cocks, 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).