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 2271

District of 30 September 1921 Quarter ending Motueka Registrar Hugh Scott

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

22 July 1921

Frederick John Bowers
Daphne Maud Gadd

Frederick John Bowers
Daphne Maude Gadd
💍 1921/4366

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Fruit packer

31
21

Tasman
Tasman

2 years
6 years

Residence of Mr R. A. Gadd

7685

22 July 1921

Rev. John Vosper, Anglican

No	11
Date of Notice	22 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Bowers	Daphne Maud Gadd
BDM Match (97%)	Frederick John Bowers	Daphne Maude Gadd
	💍 1921/4366
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Fruit packer
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Tasman	Tasman
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr R. A. Gadd
Folio	7685
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Vosper, Anglican

25 July 1921

John Moses Smith
Mabel Kathleen Jennens

John Moses Smith
Mabel Kathleen Jennens
💍 1921/4367

Widower
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic Duties

47
26

Nelson
Motueka

17 years
3 days

Registration Office Motueka

7686

25 July 1921

Hugh Scott, The Registrar, Motueka

No	12
Date of Notice	25 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Moses Smith	Mabel Kathleen Jennens
	💍 1921/4367
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic Duties
Age	47	26
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Motueka
Length of Residence	17 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Registration Office Motueka
Folio	7686
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Hugh Scott, The Registrar, Motueka

2 August 1921

Charles John Bullard
Mary Duncan

Charles Arthur Bullard
Mary Duncan
💍 1921/4368

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

26
18

Riwaka
Riwaka

10 years
Life

Residence of Mr Claude Inwood, Umukuri

7687

John William Duncan, Father

2 August 1921

Rev. James Richards, Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	2 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles John Bullard	Mary Duncan
BDM Match (89%)	Charles Arthur Bullard	Mary Duncan
	💍 1921/4368
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Riwaka	Riwaka
Length of Residence	10 years	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Claude Inwood, Umukuri
Folio	7687
Consent	John William Duncan, Father
Date of Certificate	2 August 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Richards, Presbyterian

29 August 1921

Andrew Christensen
Minnie Guayle

Andrew Christensen
Minnie Quayle
💍 1921/4369

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Domestic Duties

43
33

Motueka
Motueka

4 years
10 years

Residence of Lawrence Sinclair, Motueka

7688

29 August 1921

Rev G. W. Brown, Methodist

No	14
Date of Notice	29 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Christensen	Minnie Guayle
BDM Match (96%)	Andrew Christensen	Minnie Quayle
	💍 1921/4369
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	43	33
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	4 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Lawrence Sinclair, Motueka
Folio	7688
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev G. W. Brown, Methodist

17 September 1921

John Owen Harvey Holyoke
Flossy Caskew

John Owen Harvey Holyoake
Flossy Askew
💍 1921/4370

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

20
19

Riwaka
Riwaka

Life
Life

Residence of J. A. Askew, Riwaka

7689

Harvey B. Holyoke, Father; Joseph A. Askew, Father

17 September 1921

James Rev. W. Richards, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	17 September 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Owen Harvey Holyoke	Flossy Caskew
BDM Match (90%)	John Owen Harvey Holyoake	Flossy Askew
	💍 1921/4370
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Riwaka	Riwaka
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of J. A. Askew, Riwaka
Folio	7689
Consent	Harvey B. Holyoke, Father; Joseph A. Askew, Father
Date of Certificate	17 September 1921
Officiating Minister	James Rev. W. Richards, 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).