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 2493

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

933

2 December 1919

Richard Dobson
Hilda Ludemann

Richard Dobson
Hilda Ludemann
💍 1919/7860

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

37
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
6 months

St Mary's Church, Addington

7426

2 December 1919

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	933
Date of Notice	2 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Dobson	Hilda Ludemann
	💍 1919/7860
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	37	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	7426
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

934

2 December 1919

Henry Starkie
Agnes Henry

Henry Starkie
Agnes Henry
💍 1919/7871

Widower August 8. 1904
Spinster

Plumber
Saleswoman

46
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 years
10 years

Residence of Rev. J. J. North, 271 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

7427

2 December 1919

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	934
Date of Notice	2 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Starkie	Agnes Henry
	💍 1919/7871
Condition	Widower August 8. 1904	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Saleswoman
Age	46	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. J. J. North, 271 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	7427
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

935

2 December 1919

Clarence George Hubert
Margaret Jamieson

Clarence George Hubert
Margaret Jamieson
💍 1919/7878

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi Driver

21
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 months
12 months

Methodist Parsonage, Durham Street, Christchurch

7428

2 December 1919

Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

No	935
Date of Notice	2 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence George Hubert	Margaret Jamieson
	💍 1919/7878
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi Driver
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage, Durham Street, Christchurch
Folio	7428
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

936

2 December 1919

John Spiers Robertson
Martha Bell Walker

John Spiers Robertson
Martha Bell Walker
💍 1919/7879

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipping Agent

34
24

Christchurch
Greymouth

1 week

St Paul's Church, Christchurch

7429

2 December 1919

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	936
Date of Notice	2 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Spiers Robertson	Martha Bell Walker
	💍 1919/7879
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipping Agent
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Greymouth
Length of Residence	1 week
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	7429
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

937

2 December 1919

Charles Falconer
Ethel Blanch Phillips

Charles Falconer
Ethel Blanch Phillips
💍 1919/7880

Bachelor
Widow June 12. 1917

Boilermaker

49
41

Sydenham
Linwood

5 weeks
14 years

Presbyterian Manse, Riccarton

7430

2 December 1919

Rev. N. O. White, Presbyterian

No	937
Date of Notice	2 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Falconer	Ethel Blanch Phillips
	💍 1919/7880
Condition	Bachelor	Widow June 12. 1917
Profession	Boilermaker
Age	49	41
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Linwood
Length of Residence	5 weeks	14 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Riccarton
Folio	7430
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. O. White, Presbyterian

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).