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 2464

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

788

22 October 1919

William Henry McLaughlan
Lessie Marsh

William Henry McLaughlan
Lessie Marsh
💍 1919/7739

Bachelor
Spinster

Porter New Zealand Railways

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
3 days

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

7288

22 October 1919

Rev. J. A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

No	788
Date of Notice	22 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry McLaughlan	Lessie Marsh
	💍 1919/7739
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Porter New Zealand Railways
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	7288
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

789

22 October 1919

Stanley George Matterson
Elsie Levina Orchard

Stanley George Matterson
Elsie Levina Orchard
💍 1919/7740

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
22

Marshland
Belfast

Life
1 week

Anglican Church Belfast

7289

22 October 1919

Rev. T. M. Curnow, Anglican

No	789
Date of Notice	22 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley George Matterson	Elsie Levina Orchard
	💍 1919/7740
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Marshland	Belfast
Length of Residence	Life	1 week
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Belfast
Folio	7289
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. M. Curnow, Anglican

790

22 October 1919

William Earnest Martin
Mabel Maria Findley

William Earnest Martin
Mabel Maria Findley
💍 1919/7741

Bachelor
Previously married but not heard of husband for 14 years last past

Carpenter

35
42

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
6 years

Registrars Office Christchurch

7290

22 October 1919

Registrar

No	790
Date of Notice	22 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Earnest Martin	Mabel Maria Findley
	💍 1919/7741
Condition	Bachelor	Previously married but not heard of husband for 14 years last past
Profession	Carpenter
Age	35	42
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Christchurch
Folio	7290
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

791

22 October 1919

Leonard Norman Clarkson
Florence Alice Scott Rossiter

Leonard Norman Clarkson
Florence Alice Scott Rossiter
💍 1919/7742

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Dressmaker

21
19

Opawa
Sydenham

15 years
11 years

Residence of Mrs Rossiter 52 Durham Street Sydenham

7291

Agnes Florence Rosina Rossiter (mother)

22 October 1919

Rev. W. Beckett, Methodist

No	791
Date of Notice	22 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Norman Clarkson	Florence Alice Scott Rossiter
	💍 1919/7742
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Dressmaker
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Sydenham
Length of Residence	15 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Rossiter 52 Durham Street Sydenham
Folio	7291
Consent	Agnes Florence Rosina Rossiter (mother)
Date of Certificate	22 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beckett, Methodist

792

23 October 1919

Albert Clifford Norton
Emily Caukwell

Albert Clifford Norton
Emily Caukwell
💍 1919/7743

Bachelor
Spinster

Apiarist
Tailoress

30
24

Upper Riccarton
Upper Riccarton

3 days
11 years

Registrars Office Christchurch

7292

23 October 1919

Registrar

No	792
Date of Notice	23 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Clifford Norton	Emily Caukwell
	💍 1919/7743
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Apiarist	Tailoress
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Upper Riccarton	Upper Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 days	11 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Christchurch
Folio	7292
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 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).