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 2292

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 1919 Registrar L. W. Wait

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

28 July 1919

Denis Patrick Histen
Catherine Emma Allen

Denis Patrick Histen
Catherine Emma Allen
💍 1919/6735

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

27
26

Ashburton
Winslow

3 days
20 years

Roman Catholic Church Ashburton

6219

28 July 1919

Rev. J. J. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

No	44
Date of Notice	28 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Patrick Histen	Catherine Emma Allen
	💍 1919/6735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Winslow
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Ashburton
Folio	6219
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

15 August 1919

Timothy Sullivan
Christina McCormick

Timothy Sullivan
Christina McCormick
💍 1919/7150

Bachelor
Spinster

Letter - Carrier
Clerk

27
25

Ashburton
Ashburton

5 years
25 years

Roman Catholic Church Ashburton

6662

15 August 1919

Rev. J. J. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

No	45
Date of Notice	15 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Timothy Sullivan	Christina McCormick
	💍 1919/7150
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Letter - Carrier	Clerk
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Ashburton
Folio	6662
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

19 August 1919

John Arthur Dowler
Amy Elizabeth Marsden

John Arthur Dowler
Amy Elizabeth Marsden
💍 1919/6737

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

41
28

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 days
28 years

At the dwelling of William Marsden Ashburton

6220

19 August 1919

Rev. Robert Raine, Methodist

No	46
Date of Notice	19 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Arthur Dowler	Amy Elizabeth Marsden
	💍 1919/6737
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	41	28
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of William Marsden Ashburton
Folio	6220
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Raine, Methodist

19 August 1919

Arthur Frederick Broughan
Myrtle Lilian Withell

Arthur Frederick Broughan
Myrtle Lilian Withell
💍 1919/6738

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

23
22

Ashburton
Mayfield

3 days
14 years

Presbyterian Church Mayfield

6221

19 August 1919

Rev. J. Johnston, Presbyterian

No	47
Date of Notice	19 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Frederick Broughan	Myrtle Lilian Withell
	💍 1919/6738
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Mayfield
Length of Residence	3 days	14 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Mayfield
Folio	6221
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Johnston, Presbyterian

22 August 1919

Arthur Pollock
Nellie Keig

Arthur Pollock
Nellie King
💍 1919/4208

Widower
Spinster

Carrier
domestic duties

47
46

Ashburton
Redcliffs

47 years
46 years

At the dwelling of William Keig Redcliffs

4365

22 August 1919

Rev. W. J. Williams, Methodist

No	48
Date of Notice	22 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Pollock	Nellie Keig
BDM Match (91%)	Arthur Pollock	Nellie King
	💍 1919/4208
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	domestic duties
Age	47	46
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Redcliffs
Length of Residence	47 years	46 years
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of William Keig Redcliffs
Folio	4365
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Williams, Methodist

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).