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 30 June 1921 Quarter ending Nelson Registrar S. J. Somm

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 May 1921

Francis Henry Jaones
Birdie 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

5208

4 May 1921

S. J. Somm, Registrar of Marriages

No	51
Date of Notice	4 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Henry Jaones	Birdie Christina Biggs
BDM Match (81%)	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
Folio	5208
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1921
Officiating Minister	S. J. Somm, Registrar of Marriages

9 May 1921

George Mander Wells
Hannah Linnigan

Claude George Wells
Hannah Finnigan
💍 1921/7029

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Saleswoman

31
25

Nelson
Nelson

8 days
7 years

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

5209

9 May 1921

Rev. G. R. Campbell, Roman Catholic.

No	52
Date of Notice	9 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Mander Wells	Hannah Linnigan
BDM Match (68%)	Claude George Wells	Hannah Finnigan
	💍 1921/7029
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Saleswoman
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	8 days	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manuka Street, Nelson
Folio	5209
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. R. Campbell, Roman Catholic.

11 May 1921

Eric Darcy Dredge
Rita Marjorie Hook

Eric Darcy Dredge
Rita Marjorie Cook
💍 1921/7006

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic
Domestic duties

21
17

Nelson
Nelson

1 year
17 years

Dwelling of Charles Hook, Nile Street, Nelson

5210

Charles Hook

11 May 1921

Rev. R. C. Blamires, Methodist.

No	53
Date of Notice	11 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Darcy Dredge	Rita Marjorie Hook
BDM Match (97%)	Eric Darcy Dredge	Rita Marjorie Cook
	💍 1921/7006
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic	Domestic duties
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	1 year	17 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Charles Hook, Nile Street, Nelson
Folio	5210
Consent	Charles Hook
Date of Certificate	11 May 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. C. Blamires, Methodist.

12 May 1921

Leslie O'Wills Ford
Mary Ada Phillips

Leslie Mills Ford
May Ada Phillips
💍 1921/7007

Widower (Married 4th March 1919)
Spinster

Teacher
Domestic duties

27
29

Christchurch
Nelson

29 years

Christchurch Cathedral

5211

12 May 1921

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

No	54
Date of Notice	12 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie O'Wills Ford	Mary Ada Phillips
BDM Match (89%)	Leslie Mills Ford	May Ada Phillips
	💍 1921/7007
Condition	Widower (Married 4th March 1919)	Spinster
Profession	Teacher	Domestic duties
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Nelson
Length of Residence		29 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch Cathedral
Folio	5211
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Mackes, Church of England.

12 May 1921

Basil Ambrose Brough
Ethel Bradley

Basil Ambrose Brough
Ethel Bradley
💍 1921/7008

Bachelor
Spinster

Barber
Saleswoman

23
22

Nelson
Nelson

3 years
1 year

Church of Christ

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	Barber	Saleswoman
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Church of Christ
Folio	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).

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).