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 2486

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

898

22 November 1919

Francis Herbert Polhill
Henrietta Florence Wood

Francis Herbert Polhill
Henrietta Florence Wood
💍 1919/7795

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Officer

54
33

Christchurch
Opawa

27 years
11 years

St Mark's Church Opawa

7394

22 November 1919

Rev. H. Williams Anglican

No	898
Date of Notice	22 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Herbert Polhill	Henrietta Florence Wood
	💍 1919/7795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Officer
Age	54	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Opawa
Length of Residence	27 years	11 years
Marriage Place	St Mark's Church Opawa
Folio	7394
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams Anglican

899

22 November 1919

William Mark Beckett
Cressy May Fisher

William Mark Beckett
Cressy May Fisher
💍 1919/7797

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand

24
18

Sydenham
Sydenham

14 years
18 years

Methodist Church Sydenham

7395

Richard Fisher (father)

22 November 1919

Rev. W. Beckett Methodist

No	899
Date of Notice	22 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Mark Beckett	Cressy May Fisher
	💍 1919/7797
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	14 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Sydenham
Folio	7395
Consent	Richard Fisher (father)
Date of Certificate	22 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beckett Methodist

900

22 November 1919

Samuel Stanley Joines
Doris Elizabeth Ann Moore

Samuel Stanley Joines
Doris Elizabeth Ann Moore
💍 1919/7798

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

30
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Christchurch

7396

22 November 1919

Registrar

No	900
Date of Notice	22 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Stanley Joines	Doris Elizabeth Ann Moore
	💍 1919/7798
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	7396
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

901

22 November 1919

Frank Edward Burrell
Louisa Cora Keetley

Frank Edward Burrell
Louisa Cora Keetley
💍 1919/7799

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Law Clerk

26
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
10 years

Methodist Church Harewood Road Papanui

7397

22 November 1919

Rev. T. A Joughin Methodist

No	901
Date of Notice	22 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Edward Burrell	Louisa Cora Keetley
	💍 1919/7799
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Law Clerk
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Harewood Road Papanui
Folio	7397
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A Joughin Methodist

902

24 November 1919

Richard Frank Richardson
Clara East

Richard Frank Richardson
Clara East
💍 1919/7800

Widower November 29, 1918
Spinster

Insurance Agent

59
53

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Christchurch

7398

24 November 1919

Registrar

No	902
Date of Notice	24 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Frank Richardson	Clara East
	💍 1919/7800
Condition	Widower November 29, 1918	Spinster
Profession	Insurance Agent
Age	59	53
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	7398
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).