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 2375

District of 30 June 1921 Quarter ending Grey Registrar J. Innescoe

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

30 March 1921

Alexander George Sime
Rose Mary Hill

Alexander George Sime
Rose Mary Hill
💍 1921/840

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry cook
Typiste

32
19

Greymouth
Greymouth

2 years
19 years

Presbyterian Church, Greymouth

5244

Rose in New Zealand having authority to give consent.

13 April 1921

J. N. Cuttle, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	30 March 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander George Sime	Rose Mary Hill
	💍 1921/840
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry cook	Typiste
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Greymouth
Folio	5244
Consent	Rose in New Zealand having authority to give consent.
Date of Certificate	13 April 1921
Officiating Minister	J. N. Cuttle, Presbyterian

1 April 1921

Robin Keith Monk
Agnes May M. Minn

Robin Keith Monk
Agnes May McMinn
💍 1921/839

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Domestic

19
19

Greymouth
Greymouth

5 months
19 years

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

5243

Kate Monk, Mother; John B. Clarke, Father

1 April 1921

A. J. Carr, Anglican

No	16
Date of Notice	1 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robin Keith Monk	Agnes May M. Minn
BDM Match (94%)	Robin Keith Monk	Agnes May McMinn
	💍 1921/839
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Domestic
Age	19	19
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	5 months	19 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	5243
Consent	Kate Monk, Mother; John B. Clarke, Father
Date of Certificate	1 April 1921
Officiating Minister	A. J. Carr, Anglican

1 April 1921

John Evan Walton
Maggie Alice Mason

John Evan Walton
Maggie Alice Mason
💍 1921/842

Bachelor
Divorced (Divorce Absolute 17 April 1920)

Carpenter
Housekeeper

33
32

Greymouth
Greymouth

33 years
5 years

Dwelling House, 5 Chapel St, Greymouth

5245

Mary Lloyd Walton, father of groom

1 April 1921

J. J. Wallis, Methodist

No	17
Date of Notice	1 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Evan Walton	Maggie Alice Mason
	💍 1921/842
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (Divorce Absolute 17 April 1920)
Profession	Carpenter	Housekeeper
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	33 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House, 5 Chapel St, Greymouth
Folio	5245
Consent	Mary Lloyd Walton, father of groom
Date of Certificate	1 April 1921
Officiating Minister	J. J. Wallis, Methodist

4 April 1921

William Henry Barber
Katherine Alice McGrath

William Henry Carse
Catherine Alice McGrath
💍 1921/843

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

39
38

Brunnerston
9 Threadneedle St

34 years
37 years

5246

4 April 1921

J. Hong, Roman Catholic

No	18
Date of Notice	4 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Barber	Katherine Alice McGrath
BDM Match (90%)	William Henry Carse	Catherine Alice McGrath
	💍 1921/843
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	39	38
Dwelling Place	Brunnerston	9 Threadneedle St
Length of Residence	34 years	37 years
Marriage Place
Folio	5246
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1921
Officiating Minister	J. Hong, Roman Catholic

5 April 1921

James Watt
Christina Agnes Dick

James Watt
Christina Agnes Dick
💍 1921/844

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

37
39

Greymouth
Greymouth

4 days
4 years

43 Cooper St, Greymouth

5247

5 April 1921

J. N. Cuttle, Presbyterian

No	19
Date of Notice	5 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Watt	Christina Agnes Dick
	💍 1921/844
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	37	39
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	4 days	4 years
Marriage Place	43 Cooper St, Greymouth
Folio	5247
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1921
Officiating Minister	J. N. Cuttle, 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).