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 2308

District of 30 September 1921 Quarter ending Nelson Registrar S. J. Syson

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

13 July 1921

Harold John Brown
Gertrude Mary Harley

Harold John Brown
Gertrude Mary Harley
💍 1921/4379

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Lady

24
26

Wellington
Nelson

18 months
26 years

Holy Evangelists Church, Bishopdale

7697

13 July 1921

Rev. A. E. Blecks, Church of England

No	45
Date of Notice	13 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold John Brown	Gertrude Mary Harley
	💍 1921/4379
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Lady
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Nelson
Length of Residence	18 months	26 years
Marriage Place	Holy Evangelists Church, Bishopdale
Folio	7697
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. E. Blecks, Church of England

16 July 1921

Marry Leavender
Iris May Heming

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegrapist
Accountant

31
28

Nelson
Nelson

5 days
28 days

Church of England, Stoke

8188

16 July 1921

Rev. J. Rogers, Church of England

No	46
Date of Notice	16 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Marry Leavender	Iris May Heming
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegrapist	Accountant
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	5 days	28 days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Stoke
Folio	8188
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Rogers, Church of England

18 July 1921

Bertie John Grant
Martha Jenner

Bertie John Grant
Martha Jenner
💍 1921/4380

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Domestic duties

24
21

Nelson
Nelson

24 years
8 years

St. Marys Catholic Church, Manuka Street, Nelson

7698

18 July 1921

Rev. W. H. Campbell, Roman Catholic

No	47
Date of Notice	18 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bertie John Grant	Martha Jenner
	💍 1921/4380
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Domestic duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	24 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Marys Catholic Church, Manuka Street, Nelson
Folio	7698
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Campbell, Roman Catholic

20 July 1921

Charles William Hillman
Irene Alberta Small

Charles William Holman
Irene Alberta Small
💍 1921/4381

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Shop assistant

35
26

Nelson
Nelson

2 1/2 years
26 years

Congregational Church, Hardy Street, Nelson

7699

20 July 1921

Rev. H. R. Blamires, Methodist

No	48
Date of Notice	20 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Hillman	Irene Alberta Small
BDM Match (96%)	Charles William Holman	Irene Alberta Small
	💍 1921/4381
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Shop assistant
Age	35	26
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Hardy Street, Nelson
Folio	7699
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. R. Blamires, Methodist

22 July 1921

George Butler Hoddinot
Elizabeth Smales

George Butler Hoddinott
Elizabeth Smailes
💍 1921/4382

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Officer
Registered Nurse

35
38

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
6 months

Dwelling of Mrs. Jessie Robertson, Queens Road, Nelson

7700

22 July 1921

Rev. H. R. Blamires, Methodist

No	49
Date of Notice	22 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Butler Hoddinot	Elizabeth Smales
BDM Match (95%)	George Butler Hoddinott	Elizabeth Smailes
	💍 1921/4382
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Officer	Registered Nurse
Age	35	38
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs. Jessie Robertson, Queens Road, Nelson
Folio	7700
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. R. Blamires, Methodist

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).