Intentions to Marry, 1921 Kaikoura to Christchurch

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840501, 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.

1921f contains pages 2143-2690, covering districts from Kaikoura to Christchurch

Page 2177

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 June 1921 Registrar C. E. Butcher

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

4 June 1921

Roy Harold Crook
Mildred Christina Thompson

Roy Harold Crook
Mildred Christina Thompson
💍 1921/6977

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Mechanic
Dressmaker

24
25

Blenheim
Blenheim

24 years
25 years

Methodist Church, Blenheim

21/5157

4 June 1921

Rev. W. Greenslade, Methodist

No	43
Date of Notice	4 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Roy Harold Crook	Mildred Christina Thompson
	💍 1921/6977
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Mechanic	Dressmaker
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	24 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Blenheim
Folio	21/5157
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Greenslade, Methodist

4 June 1921

George Ackland
Maud Alice Crafar

George Ackland
Maud Alice Crafar
💍 1921/6978

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household Duties

44
29

Blenheim
Blenheim

10 days
10 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

21/5158

4 June 1921

Ven. Arch G. W. York, Church of England

No	44
Date of Notice	4 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ackland	Maud Alice Crafar
	💍 1921/6978
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	44	29
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	10 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	21/5158
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch G. W. York, Church of England

6 June 1921

Joseph Henry Reid
Jessie Florence Annette Alexander

Joseph Henry Reid
Jessie Florence Annette Alexander
💍 1921/6979

Divorced (4/6/21)
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

55
39

Wairau Bar
Wairau Bar

55 years
39 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

21/5159

6 June 1921

C. E. Butcher, Registrar of Marriages

No	45
Date of Notice	6 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Reid	Jessie Florence Annette Alexander
	💍 1921/6979
Condition	Divorced (4/6/21)	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	55	39
Dwelling Place	Wairau Bar	Wairau Bar
Length of Residence	55 years	39 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim
Folio	21/5159
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1921
Officiating Minister	C. E. Butcher, Registrar of Marriages

6 June 1921

Ralph Spendsor Bary
Phyllis Isobel Adams

Ralph Spendsor Bary
Phyllis Isabel Adams
💍 1921/6956

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

23
23

Renwicktown
Ward

23 years
23 years

St. Peter's Church, Ward

21/5160

6 June 1921

Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Church of England

No	46
Date of Notice	6 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Spendsor Bary	Phyllis Isobel Adams
BDM Match (98%)	Ralph Spendsor Bary	Phyllis Isabel Adams
	💍 1921/6956
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Ward
Length of Residence	23 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Ward
Folio	21/5160
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Church of England

6 June 1921

Edward Francis Bates
Hannah Casey

Edward Francis Bates
Hannah Casey
💍 1921/6957

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Home Duties

37
23

Blenheim
Blenheim

5 years
23 years

St. Mary's Catholic Church, Blenheim

21/5161

6 June 1921

Rev. H. Le Bouteiller, Roman Catholic

No	47
Date of Notice	6 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Francis Bates	Hannah Casey
	💍 1921/6957
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Home Duties
Age	37	23
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	5 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	21/5161
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Le Bouteiller, 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).