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 2303

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 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

7 May 1921

Francis Henry James Lines
Virtue Christina Biggs

Francis Henry James Lines
Virtue Christina Biggs
💍 1921/7028

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

26
19

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
2 days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

21/5208

Ellen Annie Biggs, mother

7 May 1921

S. Tyson, Registrar of Marriages

No	51
Date of Notice	7 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Henry James Lines	Virtue Christina Biggs
	💍 1921/7028
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	2 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	21/5208
Consent	Ellen Annie Biggs, mother
Date of Certificate	7 May 1921
Officiating Minister	S. Tyson, Registrar of Marriages

9 May 1921

Claude George Wells
Hannah Linnigan

Claude George Wells
Hannah Finnigan
💍 1921/7029

Widower 11-6-1918
Spinster

Farmer
Saleswoman

31
25

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
17 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manuka Street, Nelson

21/5209

9 May 1921

Rev. D. H. Campbell, Roman Catholic.

No	52
Date of Notice	9 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude George Wells	Hannah Linnigan
BDM Match (97%)	Claude George Wells	Hannah Finnigan
	💍 1921/7029
Condition	Widower 11-6-1918	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Saleswoman
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	17 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manuka Street, Nelson
Folio	21/5209
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. H. Campbell, Roman Catholic.

11 May 1921

Eric Darcy Dredge
Rita Marjorie Cook

Eric Darcy Dredge
Rita Marjorie Cook
💍 1921/7006

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Domestic duties

21
17

Nelson
Nelson

1 year
17 years

Dwelling of Charles Cook, Nile Street, Nelson

21/5210

Charles Cook, father

11 May 1921

Rev. R. L. Blamires, Methodist.

No	53
Date of Notice	11 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Darcy Dredge	Rita Marjorie Cook
	💍 1921/7006
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Domestic duties
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	1 year	17 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Charles Cook, Nile Street, Nelson
Folio	21/5210
Consent	Charles Cook, father
Date of Certificate	11 May 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Blamires, Methodist.

12 May 1921

Leslie Mills Ford
Mary Ada Phillips

Leslie Mills Ford
May Ada Phillips
💍 1921/7007

Widower (4-3-1919)
Spinster

Teacher
Domestic duties

27
29

Croisilles
Sherry River

1 year
29 years

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson

21/5211

12 May 1921

Rev. A. C. Weeks, Church of England.

No	54
Date of Notice	12 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Mills Ford	Mary Ada Phillips
BDM Match (97%)	Leslie Mills Ford	May Ada Phillips
	💍 1921/7007
Condition	Widower (4-3-1919)	Spinster
Profession	Teacher	Domestic duties
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Croisilles	Sherry River
Length of Residence	1 year	29 years
Marriage Place	Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	21/5211
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Weeks, Church of England.

12 May 1921

Basil Ambrose Brough
Ethel Bradley

Basil Ambrose Brough
Ethel Bradley
💍 1921/7008

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Saleswoman

23
22

Nelson
Nelson

23 years
1 year

Church of Christ, Waimea Street, Nelson

21/5212

12 May 1921

Mr. John Griffith, Church of Christ.

No	55
Date of Notice	12 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Basil Ambrose Brough	Ethel Bradley
	💍 1921/7008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Saleswoman
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	23 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Waimea Street, Nelson
Folio	21/5212
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1921
Officiating Minister	Mr. John Griffith, Church of Christ.

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).