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 2446

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

706

25 September 1919

Arthur John Burnett
Frances Feron

Arthur John Burnett
Frances Feron
💍 1919/7068

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser

24
20

Linwood
Linwood

12 years
14 months

Anglican Church Phillipstown

0582

14 days' case late

10 October 1919

Rev. J. F. Feron, Anglican

No	706
Date of Notice	25 September 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Burnett	Frances Feron
	💍 1919/7068
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	12 years	14 months
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Phillipstown
Folio	0582
Consent	14 days' case late
Date of Certificate	10 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Feron, Anglican

707

25 September 1919

Norman Leslie Steel
Daisy Louise Edwards

Norman Leslie Steel
Daisy Louisa Edwards
💍 1919/7069

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Dressmaker

24
27

Christchurch
St Albans

24 years
16 years

St Matthew's Church St Albans

0583

25 September 1919

Rev. A. Hore, Anglican

No	707
Date of Notice	25 September 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Leslie Steel	Daisy Louise Edwards
BDM Match (98%)	Norman Leslie Steel	Daisy Louisa Edwards
	💍 1919/7069
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Dressmaker
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St Albans
Length of Residence	24 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St Matthew's Church St Albans
Folio	0583
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 September 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Hore, Anglican

708

25 September 1919

James Butt
Catherine Hogg Scoular

James Butt
Catherine Hogg Scoular
💍 1919/5212

Divorced Decree Absolute dated September 10, 1919
Widow July 15, 1914

Retired Farmer
Confectioner

74
57

Papanui
Papanui

12 years
5 years

Dwelling of Mrs Clark 48 Cleveland Street St Albans

7453

Fresh notice given see NO 715

25 September 1919

Rev. D. D. Rodger, Presbyterian

No	708
Date of Notice	25 September 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Butt	Catherine Hogg Scoular
	💍 1919/5212
Condition	Divorced Decree Absolute dated September 10, 1919	Widow July 15, 1914
Profession	Retired Farmer	Confectioner
Age	74	57
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs Clark 48 Cleveland Street St Albans
Folio	7453
Consent	Fresh notice given see NO 715
Date of Certificate	25 September 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. D. Rodger, Presbyterian

709

25 September 1919

Henry Johnson
Annie Maria Taylor

Henry Johnson
Annie Maria Taylor
💍 1919/5184

Bachelor
Widow January 1, 1916

Farmer

50
54

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
2 years

St John's Church Christchurch

4419

25 September 1919

Rev. P. J. Cock, Anglican

No	709
Date of Notice	25 September 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Johnson	Annie Maria Taylor
	💍 1919/5184
Condition	Bachelor	Widow January 1, 1916
Profession	Farmer
Age	50	54
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St John's Church Christchurch
Folio	4419
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 September 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cock, Anglican

710

26 September 1919

Michael James McCarthy
Mary Ann Kirwan

Michael James McCarthy
Mary Ann Kirwan
💍 1919/5193

Bachelor
Spinster

Stonemason

30
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
8 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

4450

26 September 1919

Rev. J. Kennedy, R. C.

No	710
Date of Notice	26 September 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael James McCarthy	Mary Ann Kirwan
	💍 1919/5193
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	4450
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 September 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Kennedy, R. C.

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).