Intentions to Marry, 1919 Cust to Dunedin

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840486, 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.

1919f contains pages 2521-2942, covering districts from Cust to Dunedin

Page 2559

District of Kaiapoi Quarter ending 31 December 1919 Registrar J. Bushell

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

1 October 1919

Charles Milthorp Smith Clayton
Zenira Mary Lawfield

Charles Milthorpe Smith Clayton
Teuira Mary Lawfield
💍 1919/9413

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry Cook
Dressmaker

21
18

Woodend
Woodend

3 days
2 days

Registry Office Kaiapoi

9153

Marion Lawfield Mother

1 October 1919

J. Bushell Registrar Kaiapoi

No	15
Date of Notice	1 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Milthorp Smith Clayton	Zenira Mary Lawfield
BDM Match (93%)	Charles Milthorpe Smith Clayton	Teuira Mary Lawfield
	💍 1919/9413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry Cook	Dressmaker
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Woodend	Woodend
Length of Residence	3 days	2 days
Marriage Place	Registry Office Kaiapoi
Folio	9153
Consent	Marion Lawfield Mother
Date of Certificate	1 October 1919
Officiating Minister	J. Bushell Registrar Kaiapoi

6 October 1919

Charles Edgar Orchard
Lillian Frances Waters

Charles Edgar Orchard
Lillian Frances Waters
💍 1919/9414

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
25

Ohoka
Ohoka

22 years
15 years

Dwelling Place of Mr. M. D. Waters Ohoka

9154

6 October 1919

Rev W Avery Methodist Ohoka

No	16
Date of Notice	6 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edgar Orchard	Lillian Frances Waters
	💍 1919/9414
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Ohoka	Ohoka
Length of Residence	22 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling Place of Mr. M. D. Waters Ohoka
Folio	9154
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev W Avery Methodist Ohoka

3 November 1919

Edward Gallagher
Johanna Murphy

Edward Gallagher
Johanna Murphy
💍 1919/7779

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Tailoress

49
45

Kaiapoi
Christchurch

2 years
6 months

Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

7329

3 November 1919

Rev J Kennedy Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

No	17
Date of Notice	3 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Gallagher	Johanna Murphy
	💍 1919/7779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Tailoress
Age	49	45
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	7329
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev J Kennedy Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

24 November 1919

William James Hunter
Myrtle Ellen Shepherd

William James Hunter
Myrtle Ellen Shepherd
💍 1919/9415

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

21
24

Woodend
Kaiapoi

18 years
10 years

Presbyterian Church Kaiapoi

9155

24 November 1919

Rev J Aishley Presbyterian Kaiapoi

No	18
Date of Notice	24 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Hunter	Myrtle Ellen Shepherd
	💍 1919/9415
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Woodend	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	18 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Kaiapoi
Folio	9155
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev J Aishley Presbyterian Kaiapoi

9 December 1919

Thomas Roland Gibson
Alice Kate Maud Reeve

Thomas Roland Gibson
Alice Kate Maud Reeve
💍 1919/9416

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand
Domestic

30
28

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

7 years
16 years

Church of England Kaiapoi

9156

9 December 1919

Rev J Holland Church of England Kaiapoi

No	19
Date of Notice	9 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Roland Gibson	Alice Kate Maud Reeve
	💍 1919/9416
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand	Domestic
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	7 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Kaiapoi
Folio	9156
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev J Holland Church of England Kaiapoi

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).