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 2451

District of 30 June 1921 Quarter ending Ashburton Registrar Moronto

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

22 April 1921

Thomas McLaughlin
Jessie Bell

Thomas McLaughlin
Jessie Bell
💍 1921/7136

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm labourer
Domestic duties

41
30

Lismore
Netherby

18 months
30 years

at the dwelling of James Bell, Netherby

5290

22 April 1921

Rev. John Johnston, Presbyterian

No	36
Date of Notice	22 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas McLaughlin	Jessie Bell
	💍 1921/7136
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm labourer	Domestic duties
Age	41	30
Dwelling Place	Lismore	Netherby
Length of Residence	18 months	30 years
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of James Bell, Netherby
Folio	5290
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Johnston, Presbyterian

25 April 1921

Willie Hydes
Aggie Buchanan Lochhead

Willie Hydes
Aggie Buchanan Lockhead
💍 1921/7137

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

36
24

W. Somers
W. Somers

12 months
11 years

at the dwelling of William Lochhead, W. Somers

5291

25 April 1921

Rev. W. K. Milne, Presbyterian

No	37
Date of Notice	25 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Willie Hydes	Aggie Buchanan Lochhead
BDM Match (98%)	Willie Hydes	Aggie Buchanan Lockhead
	💍 1921/7137
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	36	24
Dwelling Place	W. Somers	W. Somers
Length of Residence	12 months	11 years
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of William Lochhead, W. Somers
Folio	5291
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 April 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. K. Milne, Presbyterian

23 April 1921

John Young
Hannah Jemmett

John Young
Hannah Jemmett
💍 1921/7138

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman
Domestic duties

40
19

Ashburton
Hitcham

3 days
3 days

Office of the Registrar, Ashburton

5292

23 April 1921

W. W. White, Registrar

No	38
Date of Notice	23 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Young	Hannah Jemmett
	💍 1921/7138
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman	Domestic duties
Age	40	19
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Hitcham
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Ashburton
Folio	5292
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 April 1921
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

6 May 1921

George Hugh Wotague
Barbara Annie Maidens

George Hugh McTague
Barbara Annie Maidens
💍 1921/7139

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

40
23

Coldstream
Hinds

1 year
9 months

St Stephens Church of England, Ashburton

5293

6 May 1921

Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

No	39
Date of Notice	6 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hugh Wotague	Barbara Annie Maidens
BDM Match (92%)	George Hugh McTague	Barbara Annie Maidens
	💍 1921/7139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	40	23
Dwelling Place	Coldstream	Hinds
Length of Residence	1 year	9 months
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	5293
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

18 May 1921

Mark George Wayson
May Heloson

Mark George Mayson
May Hewson
💍 1921/7140

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Saleswoman

37
30

Hampstead
Netherby

15 years
30 years

St Stephens Church of England, Ashburton

5294

18 May 1921

Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

No	40
Date of Notice	18 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mark George Wayson	May Heloson
BDM Match (88%)	Mark George Mayson	May Hewson
	💍 1921/7140
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Saleswoman
Age	37	30
Dwelling Place	Hampstead	Netherby
Length of Residence	15 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	5294
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

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).