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 2384

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

404

10 June 1919

Eldred Treleaven Grigg
Ellen Jane Pearce

Eldred Treleaven Grigg
Ellen Jane Pearce
💍 1919/4959

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
26

Linwood
Linwood

3 days
5 years

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

4191

10 June 1919

Rev. O. FitzGerald, Anglican

No	404
Date of Notice	10 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eldred Treleaven Grigg	Ellen Jane Pearce
	💍 1919/4959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	4191
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. FitzGerald, Anglican

405

10 June 1919

William Frank Fabian
Ella Myrtle Kennedy

William Frank Fabian
Ella Myrtle Kennedy
💍 1919/2337

William Frank Cox
Theresa Monica Kennedy
💍 1919/4114

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician

23
23

Christchurch
Linwood

Life
3 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

2193

10 June 1919

Registrar

No	405
Date of Notice	10 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frank Fabian	Ella Myrtle Kennedy
	💍 1919/2337
BDM Match (60%)	William Frank Cox	Theresa Monica Kennedy
	💍 1919/4114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	Life	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	2193
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

406

10 June 1919

Henry William Gomm
Beatrice Wright Hopkins

Henry William Gomm
Beatrice Wright Hopkins
💍 1919/2338

Divorced. Decree Absolute dated 13 February 1919 produced.
Spinster

Motorman

43
41

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
21 years

Knox Church Bealey Avenue Christchurch

2194

10 June 1919

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	406
Date of Notice	10 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Gomm	Beatrice Wright Hopkins
	💍 1919/2338
Condition	Divorced. Decree Absolute dated 13 February 1919 produced.	Spinster
Profession	Motorman
Age	43	41
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church Bealey Avenue Christchurch
Folio	2194
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

407

10 June 1919

George Fergus Soutter
Olivia McKimmie Ott

George Fergus Soulter
Olivia McRemmie Orr
💍 1919/2340

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Cook

28
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
5 years

St. John's Church Christchurch

2195

10 June 1919

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	407
Date of Notice	10 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Fergus Soutter	Olivia McKimmie Ott
BDM Match (87%)	George Fergus Soulter	Olivia McRemmie Orr
	💍 1919/2340
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Cook
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church Christchurch
Folio	2195
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

408

12 June 1919

Louis Turner
Isabelle MacKenzie (commonly known as Isabelle Morrison)

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

41
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
20 years

Church of Christ Moorhouse Avenue Christchurch

2196

12 June 1919

Mr. R. Gebbie, Church of Christ

No	408
Date of Notice	12 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis Turner	Isabelle MacKenzie (commonly known as Isabelle Morrison)
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	41	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ Moorhouse Avenue Christchurch
Folio	2196
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Mr. R. Gebbie, Church of Christ

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).