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 2480

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

868

15 November 1919

Francis Moore
Annie Atherton

Francis Moore
Annie Atherton
💍 1919/7817

Widower May 8 1918
Widow February 21, 1918

Gardener

63
47

Papanui
Papanui

4 years
15 months

Knox Church, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch

7366

15 November 1919

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	868
Date of Notice	15 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Moore	Annie Atherton
	💍 1919/7817
Condition	Widower May 8 1918	Widow February 21, 1918
Profession	Gardener
Age	63	47
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	4 years	15 months
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	7366
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

869

17 November 1919

Albert Sefton Kennedy
Evelyn Mary Stemmer

Albert Sefton Kennedy
Evelyn Mary Stemmer
💍 1919/7818

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter

24
22

Sydenham
Sydenham

Life
8 months

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

7367

17 November 1919

Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

No	869
Date of Notice	17 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Sefton Kennedy	Evelyn Mary Stemmer
	💍 1919/7818
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	Life	8 months
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	7367
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

870

17 November 1919

Henry Charles Noonan
Minnie Martin

Henry Charles Noonan
Minnie Martin
💍 1919/7819

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

39
34

Burwood
Christchurch

3 weeks
34 years

All Saint's Church, Burwood

7368

17 November 1919

Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

No	870
Date of Notice	17 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Charles Noonan	Minnie Martin
	💍 1919/7819
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	39	34
Dwelling Place	Burwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	34 years
Marriage Place	All Saint's Church, Burwood
Folio	7368
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

871

17 November 1919

Albert Edward Huia Simpson
Mildred Louise Rodrigues

Albert Edward Huia Simpson
Mildred Louisa Rodrigues
💍 1919/7820

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician

35
23

Christchurch
Cashmere

20 years
7 years

St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

7369

17 November 1919

Rev. F. N. Taylor, Anglican

No	871
Date of Notice	17 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Huia Simpson	Mildred Louise Rodrigues
BDM Match (98%)	Albert Edward Huia Simpson	Mildred Louisa Rodrigues
	💍 1919/7820
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician
Age	35	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Cashmere
Length of Residence	20 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	7369
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. N. Taylor, Anglican

872

17 November 1919

John Morrow
Sophia Elizabeth Cockle

John Morrow
Sophia Elizabeth Cockle
💍 1919/7822

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Machinist

37
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
10 years

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

7370

17 November 1919

Rev. O. FitzGerald, Anglican

No	872
Date of Notice	17 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Morrow	Sophia Elizabeth Cockle
	💍 1919/7822
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Machinist
Age	37	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	10 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	7370
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. FitzGerald, Anglican

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).