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 2040

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 December 1919 Registrar F. B. Butcher

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

29 October 1919

Archibald Arthur Kitching
Irene Thomas

Archibald Arthur Kitching
Irene Thomas
💍 1919/9250

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

23
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
22 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Blenheim

19/8986

29 October 1919

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	62
Date of Notice	29 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Arthur Kitching	Irene Thomas
	💍 1919/9250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Blenheim
Folio	19/8986
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

4 November 1919

James Henry Walker
Ethel Helen Hodson

James Henry Walker
Ethel Helen Hodson
💍 1919/9251

Widower 24-2-18
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

34
24

Blenheim
Blenheim

34 years
24 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

19/8987

4 November 1919

Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

No	63
Date of Notice	4 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Walker	Ethel Helen Hodson
	💍 1919/9251
Condition	Widower 24-2-18	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	34 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	19/8987
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

5 November 1919

Jacob Samuel Hyett
Agnes Elvira O'Sullivan

Jacob Samuel Hyett
Agnes Elvira O'Sullivan
💍 1919/9252

Bachelor
Spinster

Amalgamator
School teacher

32
29

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

19/8988

5 November 1919

Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	64
Date of Notice	5 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jacob Samuel Hyett	Agnes Elvira O'Sullivan
	💍 1919/9252
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Amalgamator	School teacher
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	19/8988
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

24 November 1919

David John Boyce
Elizabeth Anne Tow

David John Boyce
Elizabeth Anne Tow
💍 1919/9253

Widower 8th May 1911
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Dressmaker

38
27

Seddon
Seddon

38 years
26 years

Residence of Mrs. Tow, Seddon

19/8989

24 November 1919

Rev. J. Herring, Roman Catholic

No	65
Date of Notice	24 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David John Boyce	Elizabeth Anne Tow
	💍 1919/9253
Condition	Widower 8th May 1911	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	38	27
Dwelling Place	Seddon	Seddon
Length of Residence	38 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Tow, Seddon
Folio	19/8989
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Herring, Roman Catholic

29 November 1919

Edward Henry Webber
Elena Alicia Candey

Edward Henry Webber
Elina Alicia Candey
💍 1919/9254

Bachelor
Spinster

Chairmaker
Clerk

28
17

Blenheim
Blenheim

11 years
12 years

Church of the Nativity Blenheim

19/8990

Charles Thomas Candey father of bride

29 November 1919

Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

No	66
Date of Notice	29 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Henry Webber	Elena Alicia Candey
BDM Match (97%)	Edward Henry Webber	Elina Alicia Candey
	💍 1919/9254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chairmaker	Clerk
Age	28	17
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	11 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity Blenheim
Folio	19/8990
Consent	Charles Thomas Candey father of bride
Date of Certificate	29 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. G. W. York, 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).