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 2491

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

923

27 November 1919

William Smith
Florence Emily Jackson

William Smith
Florence Emily Jackson
💍 1919/7842

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman New Zealand Railways

23
21

Linwood
Linwood

20 years
3 days

Church of the Good Shepherd Phillipstown

7416

27 November 1919

Rev. C. A. Fraer, Anglican

No	923
Date of Notice	27 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smith	Florence Emily Jackson
	💍 1919/7842
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman New Zealand Railways
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	20 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of the Good Shepherd Phillipstown
Folio	7416
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Fraer, Anglican

924

27 November 1919

William James Brownlee
Marjorie Jeanette Davies

William James Brownlees
Marjorie Jeannette Davies
💍 1919/7843

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman
Saleswoman

22
22

Islington
Linwood

3 months
22 years

St John's Church Christchurch

7417

27 November 1919

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	924
Date of Notice	27 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Brownlee	Marjorie Jeanette Davies
BDM Match (96%)	William James Brownlees	Marjorie Jeannette Davies
	💍 1919/7843
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman	Saleswoman
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Islington	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 months	22 years
Marriage Place	St John's Church Christchurch
Folio	7417
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

925

24 November 1919

Robert Casey
Charlotte Agnes Poninghaus

Robert Casey
Charlotte Agnes Poninghaus
💍 1919/7844

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

45
39

Papanui
Papanui

2 years
2 years

St Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch

7418

24 November 1919

Rev. P. Regnault, Roman Catholic

No	925
Date of Notice	24 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Casey	Charlotte Agnes Poninghaus
	💍 1919/7844
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	45	39
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch
Folio	7418
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Regnault, Roman Catholic

926

24 November 1919

Gordon Wilson Moore
Jeannie McHaffie Young

Gordon Wilson Moore
Jeannie McHaffie Young
💍 1919/7845

Bachelor
Divorced Decree Absolute 24-11-19

Carpenter

25
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
4 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

7419

24 November 1919

Registrar

No	926
Date of Notice	24 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Wilson Moore	Jeannie McHaffie Young
	💍 1919/7845
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced Decree Absolute 24-11-19
Profession	Carpenter
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	7419
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

927

24 November 1919

Philip Carrington
Gwendolen Smith

Philip Carrington
Gwendolen Smith
💍 1919/7847

Bachelor
Spinster

Priest
School Teacher

27
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 1/2 years
6 years

St Luke's Church Christchurch

7420

24 November 1919

Rt. Rev. Bishop C. Julius, Anglican

No	927
Date of Notice	24 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Carrington	Gwendolen Smith
	💍 1919/7847
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Priest	School Teacher
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Church Christchurch
Folio	7420
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rt. Rev. Bishop C. Julius, Anglican

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).