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 2397

District of 30 June 1921 Quarter ending Hokitika Registrar A. H. Smith

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

11 April 1921

William Campbell McSaveney
Isabella Agnes Muir

William Campbell McSaveney
Isabella Agnes Muir
💍 1921/7034

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

26
28

Arahura
Arahura

8 weeks
28 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church Hokitika

5263

11 April 1921

P.B. Fraser. Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	11 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Campbell McSaveney	Isabella Agnes Muir
	💍 1921/7034
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Arahura	Arahura
Length of Residence	8 weeks	28 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church Hokitika
Folio	5263
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1921
Officiating Minister	P.B. Fraser. Presbyterian

16 April 1921

Francis Keenan
Gladys Elgin Finsbury Gaylor

Francis Keenan
Gladys Elgin Tinsbury Gaylor
💍 1921/7035

Bachelor
Spinster

Car driver
Domestic duties

30
26

Rimu
Woodstock

30 years
26 years

5264

16 April 1921

Rev John Riordan. Roman Catholic

No	14
Date of Notice	16 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Keenan	Gladys Elgin Finsbury Gaylor
BDM Match (98%)	Francis Keenan	Gladys Elgin Tinsbury Gaylor
	💍 1921/7035
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Car driver	Domestic duties
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Rimu	Woodstock
Length of Residence	30 years	26 years
Marriage Place
Folio	5264
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev John Riordan. Roman Catholic

19 April 1921

Leslie Bernard Mills
Janet Stark McFarlane McKenzie

Leslie Bernard Mills
Janet Stark McFarlane McKenzie
💍 1921/7036

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic duties

27
22

Hokitika
Hokitika

3 days
3 days

St Andrews Presbyterian Church Hokitika

5265

19 April 1921

P.B. Fraser. Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	19 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Bernard Mills	Janet Stark McFarlane McKenzie
	💍 1921/7036
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Hokitika
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church Hokitika
Folio	5265
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1921
Officiating Minister	P.B. Fraser. Presbyterian

22 April 1921

Leslie Henry Graham
Ethel Mary Owens

Leslie Henry Graham
Ethel Mary Owens
💍 1921/7037

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright
Domestic duties

21
24

Hokitika
Kanieri

4 years
24 years

Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic Church Kanieri

5266

22 April 1921

Dr J.A. Kennedy D.D. Roman Catholic

No	16
Date of Notice	22 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Henry Graham	Ethel Mary Owens
	💍 1921/7037
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright	Domestic duties
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Kanieri
Length of Residence	4 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic Church Kanieri
Folio	5266
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1921
Officiating Minister	Dr J.A. Kennedy D.D. Roman Catholic

3 May 1921

John Corsan
Myrtle Margaret Willoughby

John Corsan
Myrtle Margaret Willoughby
💍 1921/7038

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill hand
Domestic duties

22
20

Woodstock
Woodstock

22 years
20 years

Woodstock Presbyterian Church Woodstock

5267

Frederick Emanuel Willoughby, the father

3 May 1921

P.B. Fraser. Presbyterian

No	17
Date of Notice	3 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Corsan	Myrtle Margaret Willoughby
	💍 1921/7038
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill hand	Domestic duties
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Woodstock	Woodstock
Length of Residence	22 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Woodstock Presbyterian Church Woodstock
Folio	5267
Consent	Frederick Emanuel Willoughby, the father
Date of Certificate	3 May 1921
Officiating Minister	P.B. Fraser. Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).