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 2418

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

566

11 August 1919

Arthur Kendrick Harker
Emma Gilmour

Arthur Kendrick Harker
Emma Gilmour
💍 1919/5064

Widower November 16, 1918
Widow April 25, 1919

Joiner's Machinist

44
38

St. Albans
St. Albans

1 year
3 weeks

St Matthew's Church St Albans

4319

11 August 1919

Rev. A. Hore Anglican

No	566
Date of Notice	11 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Kendrick Harker	Emma Gilmour
	💍 1919/5064
Condition	Widower November 16, 1918	Widow April 25, 1919
Profession	Joiner's Machinist
Age	44	38
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	1 year	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St Matthew's Church St Albans
Folio	4319
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Hore Anglican

567

11 August 1919

Clarence Alberto Anderson
Catherine Doidge Risdon

Clarance Albert Anderson
Catherine Doidge Risdon
💍 1919/5065

Widower November 19, 1918
Spinster

Grocer
Grocer

29
22

Spreydon
Papanui

2 1/2 years
9 years

Methodist Church Durham Street Christchurch

4320

11 August 1919

Rev. P. Knight Methodist

No	567
Date of Notice	11 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Alberto Anderson	Catherine Doidge Risdon
BDM Match (96%)	Clarance Albert Anderson	Catherine Doidge Risdon
	💍 1919/5065
Condition	Widower November 19, 1918	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Grocer
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Papanui
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Durham Street Christchurch
Folio	4320
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Knight Methodist

568

11 August 1919

Reuben Mitchell
Rosa Helen Whyte

Reuben Mitchell
Rosa Helen Whyte
💍 1919/5066

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

31
28

Riccarton
Riccarton

3 months
12 years

Residence of Mrs Whyte 48 Railway Terrace Lower Riccarton

4321

11 August 1919

Rev. R. Erwin Presbyterian

No	568
Date of Notice	11 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reuben Mitchell	Rosa Helen Whyte
	💍 1919/5066
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 months	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Whyte 48 Railway Terrace Lower Riccarton
Folio	4321
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin Presbyterian

569

11 August 1919

William Herbert Queree
Doris Galean May Kerr

William Herbert Queree
Doris Salean May Kerr
💍 1919/5067

Bachelor
Spinster

Pork Butcher

23
20

Linwood
Linwood

10 years
4 years

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

4322

Mabel Whitty formerly Kerr Mother

11 August 1919

Rev. O. FitzGerald Anglican

No	569
Date of Notice	11 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Herbert Queree	Doris Galean May Kerr
BDM Match (98%)	William Herbert Queree	Doris Salean May Kerr
	💍 1919/5067
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pork Butcher
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	10 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	4322
Consent	Mabel Whitty formerly Kerr Mother
Date of Certificate	11 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. FitzGerald Anglican

570

12 August 1919

John Daniel Davies
Gladys Dorothy Lester

John Daniel Davis
Gladys Dorothy Lester
💍 1919/5068

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

25
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

St Mary's Church Addington

4323

12 August 1919

Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

No	570
Date of Notice	12 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Daniel Davies	Gladys Dorothy Lester
BDM Match (97%)	John Daniel Davis	Gladys Dorothy Lester
	💍 1919/5068
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Addington
Folio	4323
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean 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).