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 2398

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

466

4 July 1919

Nelson William Baylis
Gladys Edith Beaumont

Nelson William Baylis
Gladys Edith Beaumont
💍 1919/4194

Bachelor
Spinster

French Polisher
Dressmaker

23
23

Woolston
Woolston

10 weeks
Life

St. John's Church, Christchurch

4228

4 July 1919

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	466
Date of Notice	4 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nelson William Baylis	Gladys Edith Beaumont
	💍 1919/4194
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	French Polisher	Dressmaker
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	10 weeks	Life
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	4228
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

467

5 July 1919

Hugh Lancelot Malcolm
Margaret Isobel Day

Hugh Lancelot Malcolm
Margaret Isabella Hay
💍 1919/4195

Bachelor
Spinster

Gas Fitter
Tailoress

27
31

Linwood
Linwood

10 years
1 year

Presbyterian Manse, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch

4229

5 July 1919

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	467
Date of Notice	5 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Lancelot Malcolm	Margaret Isobel Day
BDM Match (91%)	Hugh Lancelot Malcolm	Margaret Isabella Hay
	💍 1919/4195
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gas Fitter	Tailoress
Age	27	31
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	10 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	4229
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

468

5 July 1919

Lionel Roy Sutton
Constance Elizabeth Sutton

Lionel Roy Sutton
Constance Elizabeth Sutton
💍 1919/4196

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Saleswoman

26
19

Christchurch
Sydenham

3 years
9 years

Residence of Mrs Sutton, 36 Brougham St. Sydenham

4230

George Sutton, Father

5 July 1919

Rev. W. Beckett, Methodist

No	468
Date of Notice	5 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lionel Roy Sutton	Constance Elizabeth Sutton
	💍 1919/4196
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Saleswoman
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Sutton, 36 Brougham St. Sydenham
Folio	4230
Consent	George Sutton, Father
Date of Certificate	5 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beckett, Methodist

469

5 July 1919

Harry Cooper Holcroft
Ida Eva Dodge

Harry Cooper Holcroft
Ida Eva Dodge
💍 1919/4197

Widower
Spinster

Storekeeper
Clerk

52
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
18 months

All Saints Church, Sumner

4231

5 July 1919

Rev. E. C. W. Powell, Anglican

No	469
Date of Notice	5 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Cooper Holcroft	Ida Eva Dodge
	💍 1919/4197
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Clerk
Age	52	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	18 months
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Sumner
Folio	4231
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. C. W. Powell, Anglican

470

7 July 1919

Alfred Good
Eva Agnes Paulger

Alfred Good
Eva Agnes Paulger
💍 1919/4198

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21
27

Spreydon
Spreydon

4 days
5 years

Methodist Church Lincoln Rd. Spreydon

4232

7 July 1919

Mr. W. S. Hooper, Methodist

No	470
Date of Notice	7 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Good	Eva Agnes Paulger
	💍 1919/4198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21	27
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	4 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Lincoln Rd. Spreydon
Folio	4232
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Mr. W. S. Hooper, 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).