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 2571

District of Lyttelton Quarter ending 30 June 1919 Registrar J. J. Cameron, Deputy

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

19 April 1919

Robert Puflett
Maggie Muir Clark

Robert Puflett
Maggie Muir Clark
💍 1919/3954

Bachelor
Spinster

Architect Engineer
Clerk

31
35

Hastings
Lyttelton

3 hours
35 years

St Johns Presbyterian Church, Lyttelton

3886

19 April 1919

Rev. J. Todd, Presbyterian

No	6
Date of Notice	19 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Puflett	Maggie Muir Clark
	💍 1919/3954
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Architect Engineer	Clerk
Age	31	35
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 hours	35 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Presbyterian Church, Lyttelton
Folio	3886
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Todd, Presbyterian

22 April 1919

Francis William House Goodson
Christina Ryder

Francis William House Goodson
Christina Ryder
💍 1919/3955

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Costumier

26
25

Morton Mains
Lyttelton

4 days
25 years

Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton

3887

22 April 1919

Rev. J. R. Hewland, Anglican

No	7
Date of Notice	22 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis William House Goodson	Christina Ryder
	💍 1919/3955
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Costumier
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Morton Mains	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	4 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton
Folio	3887
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Hewland, Anglican

27 May 1919

Arthur Gordon Free
Frances Mary Emily Allan

Arthur Gordon Frew
Frances Mary Emily Allan
💍 1919/3956

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

26
24

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

3 Days
3 Days

Salvation Army Hall, Lyttelton

3888

27 May 1919

Captain H. Hawkes, Salvation Army

No	8
Date of Notice	27 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Gordon Free	Frances Mary Emily Allan
BDM Match (97%)	Arthur Gordon Frew	Frances Mary Emily Allan
	💍 1919/3956
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 Days	3 Days
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Hall, Lyttelton
Folio	3888
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Captain H. Hawkes, Salvation Army

30 May 1919

William James Cook
Esther Isabel Wright

William James Cook
Esther Isabel Wright
💍 1919/3957

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer (Soldier)
Domestic Duties

39
28

Christchurch
Lyttelton

3 Days

St Saviours Church, West Lyttelton

3889

30 May 1919

Rev. E. E. Chambers, Anglican

No	9
Date of Notice	30 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Cook	Esther Isabel Wright
	💍 1919/3957
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer (Soldier)	Domestic Duties
Age	39	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Lyttelton
Length of Residence		3 Days
Marriage Place	St Saviours Church, West Lyttelton
Folio	3889
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. E. Chambers, Anglican

6 June 1919

Thomas Reardon
Evelyn Aylett Heeney

Thomas Reardon
Evelyn Aylett Heeney
💍 1919/3959

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver N.Z.R.
Shop Assistant

27
20

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

5 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Lyttelton

3870

Louisa Heeney mother

6 June 1919

Rev. P. Cooney, Roman Catholic

No	10
Date of Notice	6 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Reardon	Evelyn Aylett Heeney
	💍 1919/3959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver N.Z.R.	Shop Assistant
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Lyttelton
Folio	3870
Consent	Louisa Heeney mother
Date of Certificate	6 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Cooney, Roman Catholic

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).