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 2316

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

4 February 1919

Norman William John Henry
Catherine Ruby Lindon

Norman William John Henry
Catherine Ruby Lindon
💍 1919/917

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
23

St Albans, Christchurch
St Albans, Christchurch

6 months
6 months

St Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch

768

4 February 1919

Rev P Regnault S.M.

No	66
Date of Notice	4 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman William John Henry	Catherine Ruby Lindon
	💍 1919/917
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	St Albans, Christchurch	St Albans, Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Manchester Street Christchurch
Folio	768
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev P Regnault S.M.

4 February 1919

Gabriel Hercules Bergamini
Vera Beryl Pirrie

Gabriel Hercules Bergamini
Vera Beryl Pirrie
💍 1919/918

Bachelor
Spinster

Stereotyper
Telephone Operator

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
6 years

Residence of Rev J Paterson 346 Worcester Street Christchurch

769

4 February 1919

Rev. J Paterson Presbyterian

No	67
Date of Notice	4 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gabriel Hercules Bergamini	Vera Beryl Pirrie
	💍 1919/918
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stereotyper	Telephone Operator
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev J Paterson 346 Worcester Street Christchurch
Folio	769
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J Paterson Presbyterian

4 February 1919

Victor Charles Parkinson
Ethel Rubina Clark

Victor Charles Parkinson
Ethel Rubina Clark
💍 1919/919

Bachelor
Spinster

Chef
Dressmaker

25
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
6 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

770

4 February 1919

Deputy Registrar

No	68
Date of Notice	4 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Charles Parkinson	Ethel Rubina Clark
	💍 1919/919
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chef	Dressmaker
Age	25	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	770
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

5 February 1919

Arthur Anthony Roberts
Elsie May Genet

Arthur Anthony Roberts
Elsie May Genet
💍 1919/920

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant
Draper's Assistant

25
26

Papanui
Christchurch

25 years
26 years

Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch

771

5 February 1919

Rev. J. J. North Baptist

No	69
Date of Notice	5 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Anthony Roberts	Elsie May Genet
	💍 1919/920
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant	Draper's Assistant
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch
Folio	771
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North Baptist

5 February 1919

Ponsonby Carew
Agnes Johnson

Ponsonby Carew
Agnes Johnson
💍 1919/921

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Car Driver
Dressmaker

34
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 months
9 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

772

5 February 1919

Deputy Registrar

No	70
Date of Notice	5 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ponsonby Carew	Agnes Johnson
	💍 1919/921
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Car Driver	Dressmaker
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 months	9 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	772
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Deputy 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).