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 2466

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

798

24 October 1919

William Walters Jones
Gwendoline Evelyn Milne

William Walters Jones
Gwendoline Evelyn Milne
💍 1919/7750

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer's Salesman
Hardware Assistant

28
24

Linwood
Linwood

28 years
4 years

Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch

7298

24 October 1919

Rev. J. J. North Baptist

No	798
Date of Notice	24 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Walters Jones	Gwendoline Evelyn Milne
	💍 1919/7750
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer's Salesman	Hardware Assistant
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	28 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch
Folio	7298
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North Baptist

799

24 October 1919

John Stafford Crawford
Jane Glezier

John Stafford Crawford
Jane Glezier
💍 1919/7751

Widower January 1, 1917
Widow January 18, 1909

Shepherd

55
53

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Christchurch

7299

24 October 1919

Registrar

No	799
Date of Notice	24 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stafford Crawford	Jane Glezier
	💍 1919/7751
Condition	Widower January 1, 1917	Widow January 18, 1909
Profession	Shepherd
Age	55	53
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	7299
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

800

24 October 1919

Marshall Edward Bettel
Frances Maude Clinton Line

Marshall Edward Bettel
Frances Maude Clinton Line
💍 1919/7752

Bachelor
Spinster

Health Inspector
Shop Assistant

31
24

Addington
Addington

31 years
10 months

St Mary's Church Addington

7300

24 October 1919

Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

No	800
Date of Notice	24 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Marshall Edward Bettel	Frances Maude Clinton Line
	💍 1919/7752
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Health Inspector	Shop Assistant
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	31 years	10 months
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Addington
Folio	7300
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

801

24 October 1919

James Arthur Williams
Dorothy Joyce Anderson

James Arthur Williams
Dorothy Joyce Anderson
💍 1919/7710

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
18

Woolston
Woolston

6 months
6 months

Presbyterian Manse 346 Worcester Street Christchurch

7301

Robert Augustus Anderson (Father)

24 October 1919

Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

No	801
Date of Notice	24 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Arthur Williams	Dorothy Joyce Anderson
	💍 1919/7710
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse 346 Worcester Street Christchurch
Folio	7301
Consent	Robert Augustus Anderson (Father)
Date of Certificate	24 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson Presbyterian

802

25 October 1919

Walter William Hyphus
Isabella Jane Aitchison

Walter William Hyphus
Isabella Jane Aitchison
💍 1919/7721

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

32
28

Sydenham
Sydenham

8 years
5 years

St. Saviour's Church Sydenham

7302

25 October 1919

Rev. H. S. Leach Anglican

No	802
Date of Notice	25 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter William Hyphus	Isabella Jane Aitchison
	💍 1919/7721
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	8 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church Sydenham
Folio	7302
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Leach 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).