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 2567

District of 30 June 1921 Quarter ending Christchurch

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

513

2 June 1921

Francis Brookes
Mabel Annie Edley

Francis Brookes
Mabel Annie Edley
💍 1921/637

Bachelor
Divorced (Decree Absolute May 24 1921)

Warehouseman

35
40

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 years
6 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

3941

2 June 1921

Registrar

No	513
Date of Notice	2 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Brookes	Mabel Annie Edley
	💍 1921/637
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (Decree Absolute May 24 1921)
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	35	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	3941
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Registrar

514

2 June 1921

Robert John Hill Annan
Margaret Eloie Fletcher

Robert John Hill Annan
Margaret Elsie Fletcher
💍 1921/638

Bachelor
Widow (February 17, 1918)

Labourer

55
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
1 year

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

3942

2 June 1921

Registrar

No	514
Date of Notice	2 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Hill Annan	Margaret Eloie Fletcher
BDM Match (98%)	Robert John Hill Annan	Margaret Elsie Fletcher
	💍 1921/638
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (February 17, 1918)
Profession	Labourer
Age	55	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	3942
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Registrar

515

4 June 1921

John Saunders
Leita Ruth Taylor

John Saunders
Leila Ruth Taylor
💍 1921/639

Bachelor
Spinster

Law Clerk

26
25

Greymouth
Christchurch

Life
6 days

Residence of Mrs. M. Gerred, 84 Andover Street, Merivale

3943

4 June 1921

E. D. Patchett, Methodist

No	515
Date of Notice	4 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Saunders	Leita Ruth Taylor
BDM Match (97%)	John Saunders	Leila Ruth Taylor
	💍 1921/639
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Law Clerk
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	6 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. M. Gerred, 84 Andover Street, Merivale
Folio	3943
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1921
Officiating Minister	E. D. Patchett, Methodist

516

4 June 1921

Peter Wallace Grenfell
Gladys Chapman

Peter Wallace Grenfell
Gladys Chapman
💍 1921/640

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist

23
25

Christchurch
Avonside

7 months
7 years

St. Pauls Church, Christchurch

3944

4 June 1921

J. Tennent, Presbyterian

No	516
Date of Notice	4 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Wallace Grenfell	Gladys Chapman
	💍 1921/640
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Avonside
Length of Residence	7 months	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church, Christchurch
Folio	3944
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1921
Officiating Minister	J. Tennent, Presbyterian

517

4 June 1921

William Master
Ellen Gingavon

William Maher
Ellen Gingavan
💍 1921/642

William McKee
Ellen Margaret Tobin
💍 1921/9570

Bachelor
Spinster

Poultry Farmer

51
52

Riccarton
St. Albans

3 months
18 months

St. Marys Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch

3945

4 June 1921

F. Kerley, Roman Catholic

No	517
Date of Notice	4 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Master	Ellen Gingavon
BDM Match (89%)	William Maher	Ellen Gingavan
	💍 1921/642
BDM Match (61%)	William McKee	Ellen Margaret Tobin
	💍 1921/9570
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Poultry Farmer
Age	51	52
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 months	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Marys Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch
Folio	3945
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1921
Officiating Minister	F. Kerley, Roman Catholic

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).