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 2465

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 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

793

23 October 1919

Henry Frederick Joseph Hebley
Lena Elizabeth Margaret Velvin

Henry Fredrick Joseph Hebley
Lena Elizabeth Margaret Velvin
💍 1919/7744

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanical Engineer

25
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
13 years

Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch

7293

23 October 1919

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	793
Date of Notice	23 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Frederick Joseph Hebley	Lena Elizabeth Margaret Velvin
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Fredrick Joseph Hebley	Lena Elizabeth Margaret Velvin
	💍 1919/7744
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanical Engineer
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	13 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch
Folio	7293
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

794

23 October 1919

Eric Douglas Masters
Minnie McLauchlan

Eric Douglas Masters
Minnie McLauchlan
💍 1919/7745

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

20
21

Fendalton
Addington

6 years
2 years

St Andrews Church Christchurch

7294

Alfred Masters (Father)

23 October 1919

Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

No	794
Date of Notice	23 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Douglas Masters	Minnie McLauchlan
	💍 1919/7745
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	Addington
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Church Christchurch
Folio	7294
Consent	Alfred Masters (Father)
Date of Certificate	23 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

795

24 October 1919

Albert Herbert Myers
Ada Brookman

Albert Herbert Myers
Ada Brookman
💍 1919/7747

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31
28

Marshland
Christchurch

31 years
28 years

St Lukes Church Christchurch

7295

24 October 1919

Rev. F. N. Taylor, Anglican

No	795
Date of Notice	24 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Herbert Myers	Ada Brookman
	💍 1919/7747
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Marshland	Christchurch
Length of Residence	31 years	28 years
Marriage Place	St Lukes Church Christchurch
Folio	7295
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. N. Taylor, Anglican

796

24 October 1919

David Walter Dutton
Edith Maud Bennett

David Walter Dutton
Edith Maud Bennett
💍 1919/7748

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer

28
24

Lincoln
Lincoln

4 months
6 months

Church of England Lincoln

7296

24 October 1919

Rev. H. A. Wilkinson, Anglican

No	796
Date of Notice	24 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Walter Dutton	Edith Maud Bennett
	💍 1919/7748
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Lincoln	Lincoln
Length of Residence	4 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Church of England Lincoln
Folio	7296
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Wilkinson, Anglican

797

24 October 1919

Thomas Desmond Elder
Beatrice Margaret Thomas

Thomas Desmond Elder
Beatrice Margaret Thomas
💍 1919/7749

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot Manufacturer

26
24

New Brighton
New Brighton

5 years
8 years

Methodist Church New Brighton

7297

24 October 1919

Rev. W. Walker, Methodist

No	797
Date of Notice	24 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Desmond Elder	Beatrice Margaret Thomas
	💍 1919/7749
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot Manufacturer
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	New Brighton	New Brighton
Length of Residence	5 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church New Brighton
Folio	7297
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Walker, Methodist

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).