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 2318

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

7 February 1919

Edmund Harris
Sarah Lawlor

Edmund Harris
Sarah Lawlor
💍 1919/949

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Book

33
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
6 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

777

7 February 1919

Rev. J. W. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

No	76
Date of Notice	7 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Harris	Sarah Lawlor
	💍 1919/949
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Book
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	777
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

7 February 1919

Thomas John Langton
Alice Lester

Thomas John Langston
Alice Lester
💍 1919/950

Bachelor
Widow 11 October 1918

Engineer

40
45

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
45 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

778

7 February 1919

Deputy Registrar

No	77
Date of Notice	7 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John Langton	Alice Lester
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas John Langston	Alice Lester
	💍 1919/950
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 11 October 1918
Profession	Engineer
Age	40	45
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	45 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	778
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

7 February 1919

William Roy Burns
Millicent Elizabeth Denston

William Ray Burns
Millicent Elizabeth Denston
💍 1919/951

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor engineer
Dressmaker

20
21

Beckenham
Waltham

2 years
2 years

Residence of Mrs G. Burns, 13 Western Terrace, Beckenham

779

Georgina Elizabeth Burns (Mother)

7 February 1919

Rev J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	78
Date of Notice	7 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Roy Burns	Millicent Elizabeth Denston
BDM Match (97%)	William Ray Burns	Millicent Elizabeth Denston
	💍 1919/951
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor engineer	Dressmaker
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Beckenham	Waltham
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs G. Burns, 13 Western Terrace, Beckenham
Folio	779
Consent	Georgina Elizabeth Burns (Mother)
Date of Certificate	7 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Paterson, Presbyterian

8 February 1919

Albert Edward Kitchingham
Fanny Blanche Beatrice Ball

Albert Edward Kitchingham
Fanny Blanche Beatrice Ball
💍 1919/952

Widower July 26 1915
Divorced decree absolute dated September 2 1915

Harbour Board employee

39
39

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Wesley Church Fitzgerald Avenue Christchurch

780

8 February 1919

Rev. E. P. Blamires, Methodist

No	79
Date of Notice	8 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Kitchingham	Fanny Blanche Beatrice Ball
	💍 1919/952
Condition	Widower July 26 1915	Divorced decree absolute dated September 2 1915
Profession	Harbour Board employee
Age	39	39
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Wesley Church Fitzgerald Avenue Christchurch
Folio	780
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. P. Blamires, Methodist

8 February 1919

Edward Boyd
Gladys Edith Harris Broadhurst

Edward Boyd
Gladys Edith Harris Broadhurst
💍 1919/953

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Shop assistant

35
22

Christchurch
Linwood

3 weeks
22 years

Residence of Mrs Broadhurst, 128 Bordesley Street, Linwood

781

8 February 1919

Rev H. A. Job, Congregationalist

No	80
Date of Notice	8 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Boyd	Gladys Edith Harris Broadhurst
	💍 1919/953
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Shop assistant
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 weeks	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Broadhurst, 128 Bordesley Street, Linwood
Folio	781
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev H. A. Job, Congregationalist

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).