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 2026

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 March 1919 Registrar J. McHugh

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

14 February 1919

Ashley Willmott Newton Horton
Doris Strange

Ashley Willmott Newton Horton
Doris Strange
💍 1919/1628

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

26
19

Flat Creek
Blenheim

10 years
19 years

Residence of Mr. C. Strange, Blenheim

19/1357

Christopher Strange, Father

19 February 1919

Rev. H. Ryan, Methodist Church

No	6
Date of Notice	14 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ashley Willmott Newton Horton	Doris Strange
	💍 1919/1628
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Flat Creek	Blenheim
Length of Residence	10 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. C. Strange, Blenheim
Folio	19/1357
Consent	Christopher Strange, Father
Date of Certificate	19 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Ryan, Methodist Church

19 February 1919

James Bailey
Katie Whiteley

James Bailey
Katie Whiteley
💍 1919/1629

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic

31
31

Tua Marina
Tua Marina

5 years
5 years

Church of England, Spring Creek

19/1358

19 February 1919

Rev. W. Bedwell, Church of England

No	7
Date of Notice	19 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Bailey	Katie Whiteley
	💍 1919/1629
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic
Age	31	31
Dwelling Place	Tua Marina	Tua Marina
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Spring Creek
Folio	19/1358
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Bedwell, Church of England

20 February 1919

Alfred Wesley Nelson Rowe
Ella McIsaac

Alfred Wesley Nelson Rowe
Ella McIsaac
💍 1919/1606

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
23

Renwicktown
Renwicktown

27 years
23 years

Residence of Mr. R. D. McIsaac, Renwicktown

19/1359

20 February 1919

Rev. J. Richards, Presbyterian Church

No	8
Date of Notice	20 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Wesley Nelson Rowe	Ella McIsaac
	💍 1919/1606
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	27 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. R. D. McIsaac, Renwicktown
Folio	19/1359
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Richards, Presbyterian Church

27 February 1919

Alfred Ernest Doidge
Ethel Ida Mears

Alfred Ernest Doidge
Ethel Ida Mears
💍 1919/1607

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant
Domestic

35
30

Blenheim
Blenheim

15 years
30 years

Methodist Church, Blenheim

19/1360

24 February 1919

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian Church

No	9
Date of Notice	27 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Ernest Doidge	Ethel Ida Mears
	💍 1919/1607
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant	Domestic
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	15 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Blenheim
Folio	19/1360
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian Church

27 February 1919

Alfred John Wheadon
Ada Twidle

Alfred John Wheadon
Ada Twidle
💍 1919/1608

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

58
51

Rapaura
Rapaura

15 years
15 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

19/1361

27 February 1919

Rev. W. Bedwell, Church of England

No	10
Date of Notice	27 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred John Wheadon	Ada Twidle
	💍 1919/1608
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	58	51
Dwelling Place	Rapaura	Rapaura
Length of Residence	15 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	19/1361
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Bedwell, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).