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 2284

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 March 1919 Registrar W. W. White

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

10 March 1919

David Larkin
Elsie Bennison

David Larkin
Elsie Bennison
💍 1919/1689

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

28
18

Fairton
Mitcham Road

15 months
18 years

Office of the Registrar Ashburton

1444

Francis Bennison Father of Minor

10 March 1919

W. W. White Registrar

No	6
Date of Notice	10 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Larkin	Elsie Bennison
	💍 1919/1689
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Fairton	Mitcham Road
Length of Residence	15 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar Ashburton
Folio	1444
Consent	Francis Bennison Father of Minor
Date of Certificate	10 March 1919
Officiating Minister	W. W. White Registrar

10 March 1919

Alexander Harold Simmons
Isabel Davidson

Alexander Harold Simmons
Isabel Davidson
💍 1919/1691

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Domestic Duties

27
19

Ashburton
Ashburton

14 months
19 years

Lismore School

1445

Louisa Jane Davidson mother of minor

10 March 1919

Rev. J. F. Feron Church of England

No	7
Date of Notice	10 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Harold Simmons	Isabel Davidson
	💍 1919/1691
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Domestic Duties
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	14 months	19 years
Marriage Place	Lismore School
Folio	1445
Consent	Louisa Jane Davidson mother of minor
Date of Certificate	10 March 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Feron Church of England

14 March 1919

John James Knight
Maggie Bella Swan Wilkie

John James Knight
Maggie Bella Swan Wilkie
💍 1919/1692

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
37

Hampstead
Allenton

4 months
7 years

At the dwelling of Mrs Christina Wilkie Hampstead

1446

14 March 1919

Rev. Geo. Miller Presbyterian

No	8
Date of Notice	14 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Knight	Maggie Bella Swan Wilkie
	💍 1919/1692
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	37
Dwelling Place	Hampstead	Allenton
Length of Residence	4 months	7 years
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of Mrs Christina Wilkie Hampstead
Folio	1446
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Miller Presbyterian

15 March 1919

William Henry Keith
Olive Ellis

William Henry Keith
Olive Ellis
💍 1919/1693

Bachelor
Spinster

Porter NZR
domestic duties

28
23

Hinds
Hinds

8 days
23 years

at the dwelling of John Ellis Hinds

1447

15 March 1919

Rev. Samuel Bailey Methodist

No	9
Date of Notice	15 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Keith	Olive Ellis
	💍 1919/1693
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Porter NZR	domestic duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Hinds	Hinds
Length of Residence	8 days	23 years
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of John Ellis Hinds
Folio	1447
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Bailey Methodist

26 March 1919

Harry Warrener Cant
Elsie Irene Tilley

Harry Warrener Cant
Elsie Irene Tilley
💍 1919/1694

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic Duties

26
17

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 months
17 years

St Stephens Church of England Ashburton

1448

Thomas Tilley Father of Minor

26 March 1919

Rev. H. N. Wright Church of England

No	10
Date of Notice	26 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Warrener Cant	Elsie Irene Tilley
	💍 1919/1694
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic Duties
Age	26	17
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 months	17 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church of England Ashburton
Folio	1448
Consent	Thomas Tilley Father of Minor
Date of Certificate	26 March 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. N. Wright Church of England

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).