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 2156

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1919 Registrar S. Tyson

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

24 July 1919

Percy Edwin Barnett
Euphemia Gibb Baxter

Percy Edwin Barnett
Euphemia Gibb Baxter
💍 1919/6665

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Saleswoman

29
28

Nelson
Nelson

2 weeks
10 years

Dwelling of James Baxter, Nile Street, Nelson

19/6147

24 July 1919

Rev. John Laird, Baptist

No	50
Date of Notice	24 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Edwin Barnett	Euphemia Gibb Baxter
	💍 1919/6665
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Saleswoman
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	2 weeks	10 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of James Baxter, Nile Street, Nelson
Folio	19/6147
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Laird, Baptist

30 July 1919

Stanley Alfred Dryden
Annie Forrest Wells

Stanley Alfred Dryden
Annie Forrest Wells
💍 1919/6666

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
26

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
7 days

Presbyterian Church, Nelson

19/6148

30 July 1919

Rev. G. H. Gibb, Presbyterian

No	51
Date of Notice	30 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Alfred Dryden	Annie Forrest Wells
	💍 1919/6666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	7 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Nelson
Folio	19/6148
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Gibb, Presbyterian

30 July 1919

Arthur John Cate
Cecilia Francis Monahan

Arthur John Cate
Cecilia Frances Monahan
💍 1919/6667

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

20
19

Nelson
Nelson

11 days
4 months

Dwelling of Charles Leopold Diamanti, Port, Nelson

19/6149

John Cate, Father; Patrick James Monahan, Father

30 July 1919

Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic

No	52
Date of Notice	30 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Cate	Cecilia Francis Monahan
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur John Cate	Cecilia Frances Monahan
	💍 1919/6667
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	11 days	4 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Charles Leopold Diamanti, Port, Nelson
Folio	19/6149
Consent	John Cate, Father; Patrick James Monahan, Father
Date of Certificate	30 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic

5 August 1919

Arthur James Stapleton
Myrtle Alice Davey

Arthur James Stapleton
Myrtle Alice Davey
💍 1919/6668

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

29
20

Nelson
Nelson

3 months
20 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

19/6150

James Henry Davey, Father

5 August 1919

Registrar of Marriages, Mr. S. Tyson

No	53
Date of Notice	5 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur James Stapleton	Myrtle Alice Davey
	💍 1919/6668
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	19/6150
Consent	James Henry Davey, Father
Date of Certificate	5 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Mr. S. Tyson

14 August 1919

Stanley Valentine Rutherford
Emily Alice Williams

Stanley Valentine Rutherford
Emily Alice William
💍 1919/6676

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Engineer
Domestic Duties

29
32

Wakatu
Wakatu

15 years
10 days

St Barnabas Church, Stoke

19/6151

14 August 1919

Rev. A. F. Carr, Church of England

No	54
Date of Notice	14 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Valentine Rutherford	Emily Alice Williams
BDM Match (98%)	Stanley Valentine Rutherford	Emily Alice William
	💍 1919/6676
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	32
Dwelling Place	Wakatu	Wakatu
Length of Residence	15 years	10 days
Marriage Place	St Barnabas Church, Stoke
Folio	19/6151
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. F. Carr, 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).