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 2473

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

833

5 November 1919

Robert Joseph Russell
Mary Miller

Robert Joseph Russell
Mary Miller
💍 1919/7781

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

30
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

7331

5 November 1919

Rev. J. A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

No	833
Date of Notice	5 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Joseph Russell	Mary Miller
	💍 1919/7781
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	7331
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

834

5 November 1919

William Henry Chainey
Lily Hinemoa Wark

William Henry Chainey
Lily Hinemoa Wark
💍 1919/7782

Bachelor
Spinster

Land Salesman
Clerk

27
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

27 years
22 years

St. Mark's Church, Opawa

7332

5 November 1919

Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

No	834
Date of Notice	5 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Chainey	Lily Hinemoa Wark
	💍 1919/7782
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land Salesman	Clerk
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	27 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Opawa
Folio	7332
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

835

5 November 1919

John Forbes
Evelyn Mary Tate

John Forbes
Evelyn Mary Tate
💍 1919/7783

Widower August 31, 1917
Spinster

Fireman N. Z. R.
Cook

26
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
4 days

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

7333

5 November 1919

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	835
Date of Notice	5 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Forbes	Evelyn Mary Tate
	💍 1919/7783
Condition	Widower August 31, 1917	Spinster
Profession	Fireman N. Z. R.	Cook
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	7333
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

836

5 November 1919

William Graeme Holder
Gladys Gwendoline Victoria Judd

William Graeme Holder
Gladys Gwendoline Victoria Judd
💍 1919/7784

Bachelor
Spinster

Photographer
Clerk

29
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch

7334

5 November 1919

Mr. J. J. Franklyn, Church of Christ

No	836
Date of Notice	5 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Graeme Holder	Gladys Gwendoline Victoria Judd
	💍 1919/7784
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Photographer	Clerk
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	7334
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Mr. J. J. Franklyn, Church of Christ

837

5 November 1919

Douglas Gordon Macleodsmith (Macleod-Smith)
Margaret Ida Tyrrell

Douglas Gordon Macleod Smith
Margaret Ida Tyrrell
💍 1919/7761

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Typist

33
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
4 years

Methodist Church, Durham Street, Christchurch

7335

5 November 1919

Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

No	837
Date of Notice	5 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Gordon Macleodsmith (Macleod-Smith)	Margaret Ida Tyrrell
BDM Match (83%)	Douglas Gordon Macleod Smith	Margaret Ida Tyrrell
	💍 1919/7761
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Typist
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Durham Street, Christchurch
Folio	7335
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Knight, 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).