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 2695

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 December 1919 Registrar Leslie G. Bruce

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

126

24 October 1919

John Joseph Aldagh
Amelia Veronica Hanna

John Joseph Ardagh
Amelia Veronica Hanna
💍 1919/9554

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist
Milliner

33
23

Christchurch
Timaru

4 months
3 days

Sacred Heart Church (Roman Catholic), Timaru

9221

24 October 1919

Very Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic

No	126
Date of Notice	24 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph Aldagh	Amelia Veronica Hanna
BDM Match (97%)	John Joseph Ardagh	Amelia Veronica Hanna
	💍 1919/9554
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist	Milliner
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Sacred Heart Church (Roman Catholic), Timaru
Folio	9221
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic

127

24 October 1919

Harold Loomes
Eliza Christina Seyb

Harold Loomes
Eliza Christina Seyb
💍 1919/9555

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor-Engineer
School-teacher

28
30

Timaru
Timaru

10 years
20 years

Trinity Presbyterian Manse, Timaru

9222

24 October 1919

Rev. T. Stinson, Presbyterian

No	127
Date of Notice	24 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Loomes	Eliza Christina Seyb
	💍 1919/9555
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor-Engineer	School-teacher
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	10 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Presbyterian Manse, Timaru
Folio	9222
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Stinson, Presbyterian

128

25 October 1919

George Henry Shelley
Sarah Isabella Smart

George Henry Shelley
Sarah Isabella Smart
💍 1919/9556

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Milliner

40
40

Timaru
Timaru

14 years
14 years

Registrar's Office, Timaru

9223

25 October 1919

L. G. Bruce, Deputy Registrar

No	128
Date of Notice	25 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Shelley	Sarah Isabella Smart
	💍 1919/9556
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Milliner
Age	40	40
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	14 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	9223
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1919
Officiating Minister	L. G. Bruce, Deputy Registrar

129

3 November 1919

Lawrence Raymond Draper
Gladys Perkins

Lawrence Raymond Draper
Gladys Perkins
💍 1919/9557

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Shop Assistant

22
22

Timaru
Timaru

1 month
6 years

St Mary's (Anglican) Church, Timaru

9224

3 November 1919

Ven. J. A. Jacob, Anglican

No	129
Date of Notice	3 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Raymond Draper	Gladys Perkins
	💍 1919/9557
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Shop Assistant
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	1 month	6 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's (Anglican) Church, Timaru
Folio	9224
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Ven. J. A. Jacob, Anglican

130

4 November 1919

Thomas Henry Campbell
Minnie Raddon Dukes

Thomas Henry Campbell
Minnie Raddon
💍 1919/9468

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
25

Kingsdown
Fairview

3 days
24 years

Anglican Church, Otipua

9225

4 November 1919

Ven. J. A. Jacob, Anglican

No	130
Date of Notice	4 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Campbell	Minnie Raddon Dukes
BDM Match (84%)	Thomas Henry Campbell	Minnie Raddon
	💍 1919/9468
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Kingsdown	Fairview
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Otipua
Folio	9225
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Ven. J. A. Jacob, Anglican

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).