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 2346

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

214

7 April 1919

Ernest Hunt
Annie Marie Hindmarsh

Ernest Hunt
Anne Marie Hindmarsh
💍 1919/2229

Divorced Decree absolute London June, 1911
Widow 6-9-1909

Medical Practitioner

51
41

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Christchurch

2010

7 April 1919

Registrar

No	214
Date of Notice	7 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Hunt	Annie Marie Hindmarsh
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest Hunt	Anne Marie Hindmarsh
	💍 1919/2229
Condition	Divorced Decree absolute London June, 1911	Widow 6-9-1909
Profession	Medical Practitioner
Age	51	41
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	2010
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

215

7 April 1919

Oswald Murray Jones
Anne Duncanson Boag

Oswald Murray Jones
Anne Duncanson Boag
💍 1919/2230

Bachelor
Spinster

Assistant Manager

22
23

Christchurch
Papanui

15 years
5 years

Residence of Mr P. D. Boag, 51 Park Road, Papanui

2011

7 April 1919

Rev. D. D. Rodger, Presbyterian

No	215
Date of Notice	7 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oswald Murray Jones	Anne Duncanson Boag
	💍 1919/2230
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Assistant Manager
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Papanui
Length of Residence	15 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr P. D. Boag, 51 Park Road, Papanui
Folio	2011
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. D. Rodger, Presbyterian

216

7 April 1919

Cecil Balfour Fowler
Hilda Mary Anne Bertha Bailey

Cecil Balfour Fowler
Hilda Mary Ann Bertha Bailey
💍 1919/2231

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic

25
26

Christchurch
Templeton

12 years
Life

St Saviour's Church, Templeton

2012

7 April 1919

Rev. E. Webb, Anglican

No	216
Date of Notice	7 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Balfour Fowler	Hilda Mary Anne Bertha Bailey
BDM Match (98%)	Cecil Balfour Fowler	Hilda Mary Ann Bertha Bailey
	💍 1919/2231
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Templeton
Length of Residence	12 years	Life
Marriage Place	St Saviour's Church, Templeton
Folio	2012
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Webb, Anglican

217

7 April 1919

Walter Vincent Stringer
Marjorie Hester Tennet

Walter Vincent Stringer
Marjorie Hester Tennet
💍 1919/2232

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
14 years

Methodist Church Durham Street, Christchurch

2013

7 April 1919

Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

No	217
Date of Notice	7 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Vincent Stringer	Marjorie Hester Tennet
	💍 1919/2232
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Durham Street, Christchurch
Folio	2013
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

218

7 April 1919

Walter Ernest Kelly
Lillian Vera Sterne

Walter Ernest Kelly
Lillian Vera Sterne
💍 1919/2233

Bachelor
Spinster

Wicker Worker
Shop Assistant

26
25

Sydenham
Christchurch

2 months
3 days

Congregational Church Worcester Street, Christchurch

2014

7 April 1919

Rev. G. E. Moore, Congregationalist

No	218
Date of Notice	7 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Ernest Kelly	Lillian Vera Sterne
	💍 1919/2233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wicker Worker	Shop Assistant
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Congregational Church Worcester Street, Christchurch
Folio	2014
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. E. Moore, Congregationalist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).