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 2460

District of 31 December 1921 Quarter ending Ashburton Registrar Horowentz

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

31 October 1921

Leslie James Ford
Vesta Una Cora Templeman

Leslie James Ford
Vesta Una Cora Templeman
💍 1921/6183

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

33
27

Hampstead
Ashburton

9 years
2 years

At the Month dwelling, 2 of Ch. of E., Ford

10306

31 October 1921

Rev. B. S. Matthews, Baptist

No	77
Date of Notice	31 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie James Ford	Vesta Una Cora Templeman
	💍 1921/6183
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Hampstead	Ashburton
Length of Residence	9 years	2 years
Marriage Place	At the Month dwelling, 2 of Ch. of E., Ford
Folio	10306
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. S. Matthews, Baptist

19 November 1921

John James Hubert Wilson
Harriett Ellen Ethel Henderson

John James Hubert Wilson
Harriett Ellen Ethel Henderson
💍 1921/6184

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Domestic duties

34
24

Christchurch
Allenton

9 years
2 years

St Stephens Church of England Ashburton

10307

19 November 1921

Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

No	78
Date of Notice	19 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Hubert Wilson	Harriett Ellen Ethel Henderson
	💍 1921/6184
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Domestic duties
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Allenton
Length of Residence	9 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church of England Ashburton
Folio	10307
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

19 November 1921

Nicholas Edward Fitzgerald
Ethel May Buchanan

Nicholas Edward Fitzgerald
Ethel May Buchanan
💍 1921/6185

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
Domestic duties

31
27

Allenton
Ashburton

31 years
7 days

Roman Catholic Church Ashburton

10308

19 November 1921

Very Rev. J. J. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

No	79
Date of Notice	19 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nicholas Edward Fitzgerald	Ethel May Buchanan
	💍 1921/6185
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	Domestic duties
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Allenton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	31 years	7 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Ashburton
Folio	10308
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. J. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

21 November 1921

Stewart M. W. Glass
Maud Evelyn Rawle

Stewart McGlashan Cassidy
Maud Evalyn Rawle
💍 1921/6186

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant degree
Matron

Ashburton
23 Havelock Street Ashburton

5 months

5 at the dwelling, W. H. Peassidy [illegible], 23 Havelock Street Ashburton

10309

24 November 1921

Rev. W. McLean, Presbyterian

No	80
Date of Notice	21 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stewart M. W. Glass	Maud Evelyn Rawle
BDM Match (71%)	Stewart McGlashan Cassidy	Maud Evalyn Rawle
	💍 1921/6186
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant degree	Matron
Age		35
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	23 Havelock Street Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 months
Marriage Place	5 at the dwelling, W. H. Peassidy [illegible], 23 Havelock Street Ashburton
Folio	10309
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. McLean, Presbyterian

8 December 1921

David Walter Wilson
Dorothy Burle Wellman

David Walter Wilson
Dorothy Curtis Wellman
💍 1921/6163

Bachelor
Spinster

Woolsorter
Domestic duties

22
20

Ashburton
Ashburton

12 years
2 years

Presbyterian Church Ashburton

10310

John Wilson, father of groom

8 December 1921

Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

No	81
Date of Notice	8 December 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Walter Wilson	Dorothy Burle Wellman
BDM Match (91%)	David Walter Wilson	Dorothy Curtis Wellman
	💍 1921/6163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woolsorter	Domestic duties
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	12 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Ashburton
Folio	10310
Consent	John Wilson, father of groom
Date of Certificate	8 December 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller, 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).