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 2293

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

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 February 1921

George Hackwood Gladstone Sarjeant
Constance Mabel Hosper

George Hackwood Gladstone Sargeant
Constance Mabel Vosper
💍 1921/9782

Widower
Spinster

Inspector
Nurse

40
33

Motueka
Nelson

[illegible]
33 years

All Saints Church, Nelson

2471

[illegible]

4 February 1921

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

No	10
Date of Notice	4 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hackwood Gladstone Sarjeant	Constance Mabel Hosper
BDM Match (96%)	George Hackwood Gladstone Sargeant	Constance Mabel Vosper
	💍 1921/9782
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Inspector	Nurse
Age	40	33
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Nelson
Length of Residence	[illegible]	33 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Nelson
Folio	2471
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	4 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Pring Rowe, Church of England

11 February 1921

William Brand Beveridge
Georgina Hyfle

William Brand Beveridge
Georgina Fyfe
💍 1921/9783

Bachelor
Spinster

Letter Carrier
Domestic duties

26
23

Nelson
Nelson

21 years
3 1/2 months

Presbyterian Church, Nile Street, Nelson

2472

[illegible]

11 February 1921

Rev. John Laird, Baptist

No	11
Date of Notice	11 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Brand Beveridge	Georgina Hyfle
BDM Match (93%)	William Brand Beveridge	Georgina Fyfe
	💍 1921/9783
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Letter Carrier	Domestic duties
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	21 years	3 1/2 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Nile Street, Nelson
Folio	2472
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	11 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Laird, Baptist

12 February 1921

Henry Baigent
Gertrude Elizabeth Bertha Millar

Henry Baigent
Gertrude Elizabeth Bertha Millar
💍 1921/9784

Widower
Spinster

Hotelkeeper
Domestic duties

66
40

Nelson
Nelson

21 years
10 years

Christchurch Cathedral, Nelson

2473

[illegible]

12 February 1921

Rev. G. E. Hicks, Church of England

No	12
Date of Notice	12 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Baigent	Gertrude Elizabeth Bertha Millar
	💍 1921/9784
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper	Domestic duties
Age	66	40
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	21 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	2473
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	12 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. E. Hicks, Church of England

12 February 1921

William Maynard Solly
Lena Edwards

William Maynard Solly
Lena Edwards
💍 1921/9785

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraph Lineman
Cook

26
26

Nelson
Nelson

1 year
25 years

Wesleyan Church, Hardy Street, Nelson

2474

Mrs. Alice Moore

12 February 1921

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

No	13
Date of Notice	12 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Maynard Solly	Lena Edwards
	💍 1921/9785
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraph Lineman	Cook
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	1 year	25 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Hardy Street, Nelson
Folio	2474
Consent	Mrs. Alice Moore
Date of Certificate	12 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Pring Rowe, Church of England

14 February 1921

John Walker Walker
Elizabeth Isabella Gibson

John Walter Makin
Elizabeth Isabella Gibson
💍 1921/9786

Bachelor
Divorced

Cabinetmaker
Domestic duties

40
33

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
3 days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

2475

[illegible]

14 February 1921

S. Iyson, Registrar

No	14
Date of Notice	14 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Walker Walker	Elizabeth Isabella Gibson
BDM Match (86%)	John Walter Makin	Elizabeth Isabella Gibson
	💍 1921/9786
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Domestic duties
Age	40	33
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	2475
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	14 February 1921
Officiating Minister	S. Iyson, 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).

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).