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 2322

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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

20 February 1919

James Raymond Henry Martin
Emma Ellen Besson

James Raymond Henry Martin
Emma Ellen Hesson
💍 1919/944

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet-maker
Dressmaker

20
20

Christchurch
Addington

2 years
3 years

Residence of Mr Peddie, 16 Park Road, Addington

795

William Henry Martin (father); Philippa Elizabeth Harvey Peddie formerly Besson (mother)

20 February 1919

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	96
Date of Notice	20 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Raymond Henry Martin	Emma Ellen Besson
BDM Match (97%)	James Raymond Henry Martin	Emma Ellen Hesson
	💍 1919/944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet-maker	Dressmaker
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Addington
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Peddie, 16 Park Road, Addington
Folio	795
Consent	William Henry Martin (father); Philippa Elizabeth Harvey Peddie formerly Besson (mother)
Date of Certificate	20 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

20 February 1919

Silas Norman Hooper
Eileen Frances Gray

Silas Norman Hooper
Eileen Frances Gray
💍 1919/945

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Waitress

26
28

Christchurch
Burwood

8 months
28 years

St Mary's Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch

796

20 February 1919

Rev. P. Regnault, Roman Catholic

No	97
Date of Notice	20 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Silas Norman Hooper	Eileen Frances Gray
	💍 1919/945
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Waitress
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Burwood
Length of Residence	8 months	28 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch
Folio	796
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Regnault, Roman Catholic

21 February 1919

Frederick Cornwall Mundy
Nellie Jackson

Fredrick Cornwall Mundy
Nellie Jackson
💍 1919/946

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter & Joiner

17
21

Richmond
Richmond

11 years
3 days

Residence of Mr D. J. Smith, 10 Petrie Street, North Richmond, Christchurch

797

James Mundy, Father

21 February 1919

Staff Captain A. Thunkettle, Salvation Army

No	98
Date of Notice	21 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Cornwall Mundy	Nellie Jackson
BDM Match (98%)	Fredrick Cornwall Mundy	Nellie Jackson
	💍 1919/946
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter & Joiner
Age	17	21
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Richmond
Length of Residence	11 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr D. J. Smith, 10 Petrie Street, North Richmond, Christchurch
Folio	797
Consent	James Mundy, Father
Date of Certificate	21 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Staff Captain A. Thunkettle, Salvation Army

21 February 1919

Sidney Baden Powell Smith Overend
Alexanderina Smith

Sidney Baden-Powell Smith Overend
Alexanderina Smith
💍 1919/947

Bachelor
Spinster

Land Salesman

18
20

St Albans
Christchurch

18 years
2 years

Residence of Mr John Smith, 89 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

798

James Overend, Father; John Smith, Father

21 February 1919

Rev. S. P. Blamires, Methodist

No	99
Date of Notice	21 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Baden Powell Smith Overend	Alexanderina Smith
BDM Match (99%)	Sidney Baden-Powell Smith Overend	Alexanderina Smith
	💍 1919/947
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land Salesman
Age	18	20
Dwelling Place	St Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr John Smith, 89 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	798
Consent	James Overend, Father; John Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	21 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. P. Blamires, Methodist

100

21 February 1919

James Gordon Hammond
Marjorie Whitehead

James Gordon Hammond
Marjorie Whitehead
💍 1919/4096

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyfarmer

24
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 days
5 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

799

21 February 1919

Registrar

No	100
Date of Notice	21 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gordon Hammond	Marjorie Whitehead
	💍 1919/4096
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyfarmer
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	799
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).