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 2310

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

21 January 1919

Henry James Pierce
Mabel Mary Roulston

Henry James Pierce
Mabel Mary Roulston
💍 1919/889

Bachelor
Divorced Decree Absolute dated 14 May, 1917

Farmer

33
40

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
4 months

Residence of Mrs M. M. Roulston 84 Randolph Street Woolston

741

21 January 1919

Rev. F. Copeland Methodist

No	36
Date of Notice	21 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Pierce	Mabel Mary Roulston
	💍 1919/889
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced Decree Absolute dated 14 May, 1917
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	4 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs M. M. Roulston 84 Randolph Street Woolston
Folio	741
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Copeland Methodist

21 January 1919

Clarence Rainton Murray
Romola Taylor

Clarence Rainton Murray
Romola Taylor
💍 1919/890

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Teacher

26
24

Cashmere Hills
Cashmere Hills

3 days
3 weeks

Residence of Mrs E. B. Taylor "Wai-are-ora" 89 Dyer's Pass Road Cashmere Hills

742

21 January 1919

Rev. D. J. Murray Methodist

No	37
Date of Notice	21 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Rainton Murray	Romola Taylor
	💍 1919/890
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Teacher
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Cashmere Hills	Cashmere Hills
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs E. B. Taylor "Wai-are-ora" 89 Dyer's Pass Road Cashmere Hills
Folio	742
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray Methodist

21 January 1919

Frank Nelson Stanton
Frederica Jean Elizabeth Sands

Frank Nelson Stanton
Frederica Jean Elizabeth Sauds
💍 1919/892

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic
Typiste

22
21

Christchurch
Linwood

22 years
12 years

Methodist Church, Sumner

743

21 January 1919

Rev. W. J. Williams Methodist

No	38
Date of Notice	21 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Nelson Stanton	Frederica Jean Elizabeth Sands
BDM Match (98%)	Frank Nelson Stanton	Frederica Jean Elizabeth Sauds
	💍 1919/892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic	Typiste
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	22 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Sumner
Folio	743
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Williams Methodist

21 January 1919

Alfred Stanley Mazey
Melba Brasher Kathleen Fletcher

Alfred Stanley Mazey
Melba Brasher Kathleen Fletcher
💍 1919/893

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
Stenographer

28
27

Linwood
Christchurch

28 years
27 years

St John's Church Christchurch

744*

21 January 1919

Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

No	39
Date of Notice	21 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Stanley Mazey	Melba Brasher Kathleen Fletcher
	💍 1919/893
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	Stenographer
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	28 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St John's Church Christchurch
Folio	744*
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean Anglican

23 January 1919

Eric McConnell
Georgina Josephine Mather

Eric McConnell
Georgina Josephine Mather
💍 1919/894

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

21
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 weeks
Life

Registrar's Office Christchurch

745

Charles Mather Father

23 January 1919

Registrar

No	40
Date of Notice	23 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric McConnell	Georgina Josephine Mather
	💍 1919/894
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 weeks	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	745
Consent	Charles Mather Father
Date of Certificate	23 January 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).