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 2496

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

948

4 December 1919

Victor Herbert Payne
Lavinia Shanks

Victor Herbert Payne
Lavinia Shanks
💍 1919/7867

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Tailoress

24
23

Spreydon
Christchurch

5 months
10 years

Residence of Mrs Shanks, 404 Barbadoes Street, Christchurch

7441

4 December 1919

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	948
Date of Notice	4 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Herbert Payne	Lavinia Shanks
	💍 1919/7867
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Tailoress
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Shanks, 404 Barbadoes Street, Christchurch
Folio	7441
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

949

4 December 1919

William Harris Bryant
Agnes Catherine Bennett

William Harris Bryant
Agnes Catherine Bennett
💍 1919/7868

Bachelor
Spinster

French Polisher

25
24

Spreydon
Sydenham

6 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

7442

4 December 1919

Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	949
Date of Notice	4 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Harris Bryant	Agnes Catherine Bennett
	💍 1919/7868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	French Polisher
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Sydenham
Length of Residence	6 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	7442
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Murphy, Roman Catholic

950

4 December 1919

William Nation Webley
Ina Jane Sweeney

William Nation Webley
Ina Jane Sweney
💍 1919/7924

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Mechanic

33
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

29 years
13 months

St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

7524

4 December 1919

Rev. A. Hore, Anglican

No	950
Date of Notice	4 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Nation Webley	Ina Jane Sweeney
BDM Match (97%)	William Nation Webley	Ina Jane Sweney
	💍 1919/7924
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Mechanic
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	29 years	13 months
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	7524
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Hore, Anglican

951

4 December 1919

Francis William Franks
Rose Myrtle Beumelburg

Francis William Franks
Rose Myrtle Beumelburg
💍 1919/7869

Widower May 24 1914
Spinster

Railway Porter
Clerk

29
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
22 years

Residence of Mrs Beumelburg, Buckley's Road, Linwood

7443

4 December 1919

Mr. W. J. Hooper, Methodist

No	951
Date of Notice	4 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis William Franks	Rose Myrtle Beumelburg
	💍 1919/7869
Condition	Widower May 24 1914	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter	Clerk
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Beumelburg, Buckley's Road, Linwood
Folio	7443
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Mr. W. J. Hooper, Methodist

952

6 December 1919

Gilbert Smith
Susan Gertrude Dunlea

Gilbert Smith
Susan Gertrude Dunlea
💍 1919/7870

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St, Christchurch

7444

6 December 1919

Rev. J. A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

No	952
Date of Notice	6 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Smith	Susan Gertrude Dunlea
	💍 1919/7870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St, Christchurch
Folio	7444
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

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).