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 2247

District of Granity Quarter ending 30 September 1921 Registrar H. C. C. McCabe

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

18 July 1921

James Albert Percival Ruff
Mary Battersby

James Albert Percival Ruff
Mary Battersby
💍 1921/4384

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

26
19

Granity
Granity

1 1/3 years
6 months

St Peters Church, Granity

21/7679

William Battersby, Father

18 July 1921

Rev. F. A. Tooley, Church of England

No	8
Date of Notice	18 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Albert Percival Ruff	Mary Battersby
	💍 1921/4384
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Granity	Granity
Length of Residence	1 1/3 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St Peters Church, Granity
Folio	21/7679
Consent	William Battersby, Father
Date of Certificate	18 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. A. Tooley, Church of England

30 July 1921

Henry Newton
Alice Nora Doherty

Henry Newton
Alice Norah Doherty
💍 1921/4385

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Engine driver
Domestic

35
23

Blackball
Granity

3 days
21 years

Church of England, Granity

21/7680

30 July 1921

Rev. F. A. Tooley, Church of England

No	9
Date of Notice	30 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Newton	Alice Nora Doherty
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Newton	Alice Norah Doherty
	💍 1921/4385
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Engine driver	Domestic
Age	35	23
Dwelling Place	Blackball	Granity
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Granity
Folio	21/7680
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. A. Tooley, Church of England

8 August 1921

Robert Swan
Margaret Affleck Richmond

Robert Swan
Margaret Affleck Richmond
💍 1921/4386

Bachelor
Spinster

Loco-driver
Domestic

23
19

Granity
Millerton

9 years
12 years

Volunteer Hall, Millerton

21/7681

William Richmond, father

9 August 1921

Mr. A. Beeson, Methodist

No	10
Date of Notice	8 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Swan	Margaret Affleck Richmond
	💍 1921/4386
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Loco-driver	Domestic
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Granity	Millerton
Length of Residence	9 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Volunteer Hall, Millerton
Folio	21/7681
Consent	William Richmond, father
Date of Certificate	9 August 1921
Officiating Minister	Mr. A. Beeson, Methodist

13 August 1921

Robert Shearer
Agnes Cuthbertson

Robert Shearer
Agnes Cuthbertson
💍 1921/4387

Bachelor
Spinster

Brakesman
Waitress

33
31

Hector
Hector

8 1/2 years
1 week

Residence of Bridegroom's Parents, Hector

21/7682

13 August 1921

Mr. A. Beeson, Methodist

No	11
Date of Notice	13 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Shearer	Agnes Cuthbertson
	💍 1921/4387
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brakesman	Waitress
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Hector	Hector
Length of Residence	8 1/2 years	1 week
Marriage Place	Residence of Bridegroom's Parents, Hector
Folio	21/7682
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1921
Officiating Minister	Mr. A. Beeson, Methodist

5 August 1921

George Sheldon Griffiths
Sarah Ann Mathias

George Sheldon Griffiths
Sarah Ann Mathias
💍 1921/4388

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Chauffeur
Domestic

29
19

Westport
Ngakawau

Lifetime
10 years

Church of England, Granity

21/7683

John Mathias, Father

15 August 1921

Rev. F. A. Tooley, Church of England

No	12
Date of Notice	5 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Sheldon Griffiths	Sarah Ann Mathias
	💍 1921/4388
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Chauffeur	Domestic
Age	29	19
Dwelling Place	Westport	Ngakawau
Length of Residence	Lifetime	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Granity
Folio	21/7683
Consent	John Mathias, Father
Date of Certificate	15 August 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. A. Tooley, Church of England

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).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

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.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

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).