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 2409

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

521

25 July 1919

Albert John Fuller
Evelyn Hazel Barter

Albert John Fuller
Evelyn Hazel Barter
💍 1919/5049

Widower 29.10.1917
Spinster

Tea Merchant

29
21

Christchurch
New Brighton

Life
12 years

Residence of Rev H. A. Job 2 Frederick St Linwood

4281

25 July 1919

Rev. H. A. Job, Congregational

No	521
Date of Notice	25 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Fuller	Evelyn Hazel Barter
	💍 1919/5049
Condition	Widower 29.10.1917	Spinster
Profession	Tea Merchant
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	New Brighton
Length of Residence	Life	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev H. A. Job 2 Frederick St Linwood
Folio	4281
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Job, Congregational

522

26 July 1919

Thomas Arnold Austin
Edith Lucy Allington

Thomas Arnold Auston
Edith Lucy Allington
💍 1919/5050

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Music Teacher

23
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
14 years

Methodist Church St Albans

4282

26 July 1919

Rev A. C. Lawry, Methodist

No	522
Date of Notice	26 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Arnold Austin	Edith Lucy Allington
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Arnold Auston	Edith Lucy Allington
	💍 1919/5050
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Music Teacher
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	14 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church St Albans
Folio	4282
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev A. C. Lawry, Methodist

523

26 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

Residence of Mr H. E. Hiddlestone 291 Barbadoes Street Christchurch

4283

Herbert Ernest Hiddlestone Father, Rosina Kate Smith Mother

26 July 1919

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	523
Date of Notice	26 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	Residence of Mr H. E. Hiddlestone 291 Barbadoes Street Christchurch
Folio	4283
Consent	Herbert Ernest Hiddlestone Father, Rosina Kate Smith Mother
Date of Certificate	26 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

524

28 July 1919

William Albert Parsons
Flora Tankard

William Albert Parsons
Flora Tankard
💍 1919/5028

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Buyer

31
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

St John's Church Christchurch

4284

28 July 1919

Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

No	524
Date of Notice	28 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Albert Parsons	Flora Tankard
	💍 1919/5028
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Buyer
Age	31	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	St John's Church Christchurch
Folio	4284
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

525

28 July 1919

Leonard Owen MacDougall
Gladys Katherine Clough

Leonard Owen McDougall
Gladys Kathleen Clough
💍 1919/5029

Bachelor
Spinster

Medical Electrician

23
22

Sydenham
Christchurch

Life
3 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

4285

28 July 1919

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

No	525
Date of Notice	28 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Owen MacDougall	Gladys Katherine Clough
BDM Match (89%)	Leonard Owen McDougall	Gladys Kathleen Clough
	💍 1919/5029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Medical Electrician
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	4285
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Kennedy, R.C.

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).