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 2388

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

424

20 June 1919

Arthur Robert Carter
Agnes Louisa Robinson

Arthur Robert Carter
Agnes Louise Robinson
💍 1919/2430

Divorced (Decree absolute 28 August 1918)
Spinster

Motor Engineer

38
24

Christchurch
Sydenham

6 years
21 years

St. David's Church, Sydenham

2211

20 June 1919

Rev. J.W. Webster, Presbyterian

No	424
Date of Notice	20 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Robert Carter	Agnes Louisa Robinson
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Robert Carter	Agnes Louise Robinson
	💍 1919/2430
Condition	Divorced (Decree absolute 28 August 1918)	Spinster
Profession	Motor Engineer
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	6 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Church, Sydenham
Folio	2211
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J.W. Webster, Presbyterian

425

20 June 1919

David Charles Marshall
Emma Maria Patience Worsfold

David Charles Marshall
Emma Maria Patience Worsfold
💍 1919/2431

Bachelor
Spinster

Stationmaster N.Z. Railways
Dressmaker

31
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 months
11 years

Linwood Methodist Church, Linwood

2212

20 June 1919

Mr. H. Spencer, Methodist

No	425
Date of Notice	20 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Charles Marshall	Emma Maria Patience Worsfold
	💍 1919/2431
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stationmaster N.Z. Railways	Dressmaker
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	11 years
Marriage Place	Linwood Methodist Church, Linwood
Folio	2212
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Mr. H. Spencer, Methodist

426

21 June 1919

Walter Henry West
Frances May Burns

Walter Henry West
Frances May Burns
💍 1919/2432

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Cycle Dealer
Tailoress

34
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 weeks
3 days

St. Mary's Church, Merivale

2213

21 June 1919

Rev. P.B. Haggitt, Anglican

No	426
Date of Notice	21 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry West	Frances May Burns
	💍 1919/2432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Cycle Dealer	Tailoress
Age	34	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Merivale
Folio	2213
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.B. Haggitt, Anglican

427

21 June 1919

Robert Withers
Eliza Jane McMeekin

Robert Withers
Eliza Jane McMeekin
💍 1919/2433

Bachelor
Widow (9 July 1913)

Labourer

36
44

Prebbleton
Sydenham

2 years
1 year

Presbyterian Church, Prebbleton

2214

21 June 1919

Rev. J.C. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	427
Date of Notice	21 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Withers	Eliza Jane McMeekin
	💍 1919/2433
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (9 July 1913)
Profession	Labourer
Age	36	44
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Prebbleton
Folio	2214
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J.C. Paterson, Presbyterian

428

23 June 1919

Claud Baggott
Violet Rosalind Graham

Claud Baggott
Violet Rosalind Graham
💍 1919/2434

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot Operative

34
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
3 weeks

St. John's Church, Christchurch

2215

23 June 1919

Rev. P.J. Cocks, Anglican

No	428
Date of Notice	23 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claud Baggott	Violet Rosalind Graham
	💍 1919/2434
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot Operative
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	2215
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.J. Cocks, 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).