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 2410

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

526

28 July 1919

William Henry McGee
Ethel May Watson

William Henry McGee
Ethel May Watson
💍 1919/5030

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Packer

27
29

Addington
Spreydon

18 years
10 years

Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch

4236

28 July 1919

Mr. J. J. Franklyn, Church of Christ

No	526
Date of Notice	28 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry McGee	Ethel May Watson
	💍 1919/5030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Packer
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Addington	Spreydon
Length of Residence	18 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	4236
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Mr. J. J. Franklyn, Church of Christ

527

28 July 1919

John Ralph
Maud Cashman

John Ralph
Maud Oashman
💍 1919/5031

Bachelor
Widow

Shearer

60
42

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
6 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

4237

28 July 1919

Registrar

No	527
Date of Notice	28 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ralph	Maud Cashman
BDM Match (96%)	John Ralph	Maud Oashman
	💍 1919/5031
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Shearer
Age	60	42
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	4237
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

528

30 July 1919

Heaton David Lisle Manson
Vera Martha Lloyd

Heaton David Lisle Mauson
Vera Martha Lloyd
💍 1919/5032

Bachelor
Spinster

Gasfitter
Dressmaker

22
23

Riccarton
Sydenham

14 years
3 years

St Andrew's Church, Christchurch

4238

30 July 1919

Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

No	528
Date of Notice	30 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Heaton David Lisle Manson	Vera Martha Lloyd
BDM Match (98%)	Heaton David Lisle Mauson	Vera Martha Lloyd
	💍 1919/5032
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gasfitter	Dressmaker
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Sydenham
Length of Residence	14 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	4238
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

529

30 July 1919

Arthur Ambrose Bruce
Janet Richardson Tennent

Arthur Ambrase Bruce
Janet Richardson Tennent
💍 1919/5033

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

25
22

New Brighton
New Brighton

25 years
6 years

Presbyterian Church, New Brighton

4239

30 July 1919

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	529
Date of Notice	30 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ambrose Bruce	Janet Richardson Tennent
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Ambrase Bruce	Janet Richardson Tennent
	💍 1919/5033
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	New Brighton	New Brighton
Length of Residence	25 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, New Brighton
Folio	4239
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

530

30 July 1919

William Henry Osborne
Florence Ethel Sheppard

William Henry Osborne
Florence Ethel Sheppard
💍 1919/5034

Bachelor
Spinster

Musician
Dressmaker

28
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 days
10 days

Methodist Church, Papanui Road, St Albans

4290

30 July 1919

Rev. A. C. Lawry, Methodist

No	530
Date of Notice	30 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Osborne	Florence Ethel Sheppard
	💍 1919/5034
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Musician	Dressmaker
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 days	10 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Papanui Road, St Albans
Folio	4290
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Lawry, Methodist

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).