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 2291

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1921 Registrar S. Tyson

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

3 January 1921

Harry Honor
Frances Elizabeth Russ

Harry Honor
Frances Elizabeth Russ
💍 1921/9772

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer
Domestic

49
25

Richmond Nelson
Nelson

6 years
4 days

Saint Marys Roman Catholic Church, Nelson

21/2462

3 January 1921

Rev. R. Day, Roman Catholic

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Honor	Frances Elizabeth Russ
	💍 1921/9772
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer	Domestic
Age	49	25
Dwelling Place	Richmond Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	6 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Saint Marys Roman Catholic Church, Nelson
Folio	21/2462
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Day, Roman Catholic

4 January 1921

Hugh Manson
Marguerita Irene Page

Hugh Manson
Marguerita Irene Page
💍 1921/9773

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

30
24

Nelson
Nelson

4 days
3 years

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson

21/2463

4 January 1921

Rev. G. E. Weeks, Church of England

No	2
Date of Notice	4 January 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Manson	Marguerita Irene Page
	💍 1921/9773
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	21/2463
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. E. Weeks, Church of England

5 January 1921

Herbert Edwin Ellison
Mary Louisa Wilkins

Herbert Edwin Ellison
Mary Louisa Wilkins
💍 1921/9774

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
24

Nelson
Nelson

5 days
24 years

All Saints' Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson

21/2464

5 January 1921

Rev. J. F. Pring Rowe, Church of England

No	3
Date of Notice	5 January 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Edwin Ellison	Mary Louisa Wilkins
	💍 1921/9774
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	5 days	24 years
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson
Folio	21/2464
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Pring Rowe, Church of England

13 January 1921

Henry Moule Ormond Benzoni
Ella Agnes May Miles

Henry Moule Ormond Benzoni
Ella Agnes May Miles
💍 1921/9775

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller
Domestic Duties

42
24

Nelson
Collingwood

1 month
24 years

All Saints' Church, Vanguard St., Nelson

21/2465

13 January 1921

Rev. J. F. Pring Rowe, Church of England

No	4
Date of Notice	13 January 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Moule Ormond Benzoni	Ella Agnes May Miles
	💍 1921/9775
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller	Domestic Duties
Age	42	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Collingwood
Length of Residence	1 month	24 years
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church, Vanguard St., Nelson
Folio	21/2465
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Pring Rowe, Church of England

14 January 1921

William Cecil McMillan
Margaret Octavia Norriss

William Cecil McMillan
Margaret Octavia Norriss
💍 1921/9776

Bachelor
Spinster

Waggoner
Domestic Duties

22
20

Nelson
Nelson

4 years
19 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

21/2466

John David Norriss, father

14 January 1921

W. B. Shanaghan, Deputy Registrar

No	5
Date of Notice	14 January 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Cecil McMillan	Margaret Octavia Norriss
	💍 1921/9776
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waggoner	Domestic Duties
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	21/2466
Consent	John David Norriss, father
Date of Certificate	14 January 1921
Officiating Minister	W. B. Shanaghan, Deputy Registrar

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).