Intentions to Marry, 1921 Bay of Islands to Raglan

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840497, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1921 is bound in eight volumes (a to h) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1921b contains pages 433-884, covering districts from Bay of Islands to Raglan

Page 447

District of Cambridge Quarter ending 30 September 1921 Registrar M. O'Leary

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

15 July 1921

Edward Cecil Curtis
Elsie Gertrude Scott

Edward Cecil Curtis
Elsie Gertrude Scott
💍 1921/8349

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

37
37

Tamahere
Pukerimu

14 years
37 years

In the residence of James Scott, Pukerimu

6890

15 July 1921

S. J. W. Irvine, Presbyterian

No	23
Date of Notice	15 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Cecil Curtis	Elsie Gertrude Scott
	💍 1921/8349
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	37	37
Dwelling Place	Tamahere	Pukerimu
Length of Residence	14 years	37 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of James Scott, Pukerimu
Folio	6890
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1921
Officiating Minister	S. J. W. Irvine, Presbyterian

20 July 1921

Albert Claude Churchill Robins
Emily Isabella Reynolds

Albert Claude Churchill Robins
Emily Isabella Reynolds
💍 1921/8350

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27
21

Thornton
Cambridge

2 years
21 years

In the residence of Richard Reynolds, Cambridge

6891

20 July 1921

J. D. McArthur, Methodist

No	24
Date of Notice	20 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Claude Churchill Robins	Emily Isabella Reynolds
	💍 1921/8350
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Thornton	Cambridge
Length of Residence	2 years	21 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Richard Reynolds, Cambridge
Folio	6891
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1921
Officiating Minister	J. D. McArthur, Methodist

25 July 1921

Theodore Frederick Gibbons
Jane Elizabeth McNaish

Theodore Frederick Gibbons
Jane Elizabeth McNeish
💍 1921/8351

Widower
Spinster

Postmaster
Domestic Duties

50
40

Kawhia
Cambridge

3 days
5 weeks

In the residence of Jane McNaish, Cambridge

6892

25 July 1921

J. D. McArthur, Methodist

No	25
Date of Notice	25 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Theodore Frederick Gibbons	Jane Elizabeth McNaish
BDM Match (98%)	Theodore Frederick Gibbons	Jane Elizabeth McNeish
	💍 1921/8351
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Postmaster	Domestic Duties
Age	50	40
Dwelling Place	Kawhia	Cambridge
Length of Residence	3 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	In the residence of Jane McNaish, Cambridge
Folio	6892
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1921
Officiating Minister	J. D. McArthur, Methodist

25 July 1921

George Enoch Smith
Margaret Gladys Ruby Roberts

George Enoch Smith
Margaret Gladys Ruby Roberts
💍 1921/8352

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Driver
Domestic Duties

25
17

Hamilton
Cambridge

9 years
17 years

Church of England, Cambridge

6893

Alice May Maria McNeish, Mother

25 July 1921

C. Mortimer Jones, Church of England

No	26
Date of Notice	25 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Enoch Smith	Margaret Gladys Ruby Roberts
	💍 1921/8352
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	25	17
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Cambridge
Length of Residence	9 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Cambridge
Folio	6893
Consent	Alice May Maria McNeish, Mother
Date of Certificate	25 July 1921
Officiating Minister	C. Mortimer Jones, Church of England

5 August 1921

Jack Henry Gibbons
Margaret Beatrice McNeish

Jack Henry Gibbons
Margaret Beatrice McLiesh
💍 1921/8353

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic Duties

35
19

Cambridge
Cambridge

1 year
19 years

In the Residence of Catherine Josephine McNeish, Cambridge

6894

Catherine Josephine McNeish, Mother

5 August 1921

T. H. Roseveare, Presbyterian

No	27
Date of Notice	5 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jack Henry Gibbons	Margaret Beatrice McNeish
BDM Match (94%)	Jack Henry Gibbons	Margaret Beatrice McLiesh
	💍 1921/8353
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic Duties
Age	35	19
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Cambridge
Length of Residence	1 year	19 years
Marriage Place	In the Residence of Catherine Josephine McNeish, Cambridge
Folio	6894
Consent	Catherine Josephine McNeish, Mother
Date of Certificate	5 August 1921
Officiating Minister	T. H. Roseveare, Presbyterian

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).