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 2470

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

818

31 October 1919

William Duke Graham
Marjorie Eileen Milson

William Duke Graham
Marjorie Eileen Nelson
💍 1919/19

Bachelor
Spinster

Book-keeper
Law Clerk

35
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
2 months

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

7316

31 October 1919

Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

No	818
Date of Notice	31 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Duke Graham	Marjorie Eileen Milson
BDM Match (95%)	William Duke Graham	Marjorie Eileen Nelson
	💍 1919/19
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Book-keeper	Law Clerk
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	2 months
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	7316
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

819

31 October 1919

Frederick William Howard
Catherine Helena O'Halloran

Frederick William Howard
Catherine Helena O'Halloran
💍 1919/7718

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

36
33

Spreydon
New Brighton

3 days
3 weeks

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

7317

31 October 1919

Rev. W. J. Hyland, Roman Catholic

No	819
Date of Notice	31 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Howard	Catherine Helena O'Halloran
	💍 1919/7718
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	36	33
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	New Brighton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	7317
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Hyland, Roman Catholic

820

31 October 1919

John Connell
Magdalen Cunard

John Connell
Magdalen Cunard
💍 1919/7719

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable

30
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months
3 days

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

7318

31 October 1919

Rev. J. Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	820
Date of Notice	31 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Connell	Magdalen Cunard
	💍 1919/7719
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	7318
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Murphy, Roman Catholic

821

01 November 1919

Joseph Webber
Charlotte Bellamy

Joseph Webber
Charlotte Bellamy
💍 1919/7720

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Hand

36
36

Sydenham
Riccarton

1 year
8 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

7319

01 November 1919

Registrar

No	821
Date of Notice	01 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Webber	Charlotte Bellamy
	💍 1919/7720
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Hand
Age	36	36
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Riccarton
Length of Residence	1 year	8 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	7319
Consent
Date of Certificate	01 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

822

03 November 1919

James William Stirling
Jeanie Fowler

James William Stirling
Jeanie Fowler
💍 1919/7722

Widower August 21, 1917
Spinster

Tramway Motorman

29
27

Christchurch
St. Albans

5 years
6 years

Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch

7320

03 November 1919

Mr. J. J. Franklyn, Church of Christ

No	822
Date of Notice	03 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Stirling	Jeanie Fowler
	💍 1919/7722
Condition	Widower August 21, 1917	Spinster
Profession	Tramway Motorman
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	5 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	7320
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Mr. J. J. Franklyn, Church of Christ

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).