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 2294

District of 31 March 1921 Quarter ending Nelson Registrar S. E. Lyons

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

16 February 1921

William Giles Humphreys
Beatrice Helen Humphreys

William Giles
Beatrice Helen Humphreys
💍 1921/9787

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

56
30

Nelson
Nelson

5 years
15 years

In the Christchurch Cathedral, Nelson

2476

16 February 1921

Mr. G. E. Heeks, Church of England

No	15
Date of Notice	16 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Giles Humphreys	Beatrice Helen Humphreys
BDM Match (78%)	William Giles	Beatrice Helen Humphreys
	💍 1921/9787
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	56	30
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	5 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the Christchurch Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	2476
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Mr. G. E. Heeks, Church of England

18 February 1921

Cyril Malcolm Rout
Mary Frances Tancred

Cyril Malcolm Rout
Mary Frances Tancred
💍 1921/9795

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister and Solicitor
Domestic duties

31
23

Nelson
Nelson

2 years

In the Church of the Sacred Heart, Cathedral, Nelson

2477

21 February 1921

Rev. E. R. Patchett, Methodist

No	16
Date of Notice	18 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril Malcolm Rout	Mary Frances Tancred
	💍 1921/9795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister and Solicitor	Domestic duties
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence		2 years
Marriage Place	In the Church of the Sacred Heart, Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	2477
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Patchett, Methodist

21 February 1921

Wilfred McKenzie Bethune
Gertrude Maude Small

Wilfred McKenzie Bethwaite
Gertrude Maude Small
💍 1921/9806

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Domestic duties

23
24

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
24 years

In the Congregation of All Saints Church, Hardy Street, Nelson

2478

21 February 1921

Rev. J. P. Rowe, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	21 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilfred McKenzie Bethune	Gertrude Maude Small
BDM Match (92%)	Wilfred McKenzie Bethwaite	Gertrude Maude Small
	💍 1921/9806
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Domestic duties
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	In the Congregation of All Saints Church, Hardy Street, Nelson
Folio	2478
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Rowe, Church of England

22 February 1921

Daniel James
Annie Smith

Daniel James
Annie Smith
💍 1921/9813

James Rowe
Annie Smith
💍 1921/10891

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

29
20

Nelson
Nelson

10 years

In the Dwelling of Mr. Edward Murrice, Alma Street, Nelson

2479

Annie Smith, Mother

22 February 1921

[illegible]

No	18
Date of Notice	22 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel James	Annie Smith
	💍 1921/9813
BDM Match (67%)	James Rowe	Annie Smith
	💍 1921/10891
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Dwelling of Mr. Edward Murrice, Alma Street, Nelson
Folio	2479
Consent	Annie Smith, Mother
Date of Certificate	22 February 1921
Officiating Minister	[illegible]

23 February 1921

Harold George William Frank
Inez Barnavoor Frank

Harold George Williams
Inez Carnaivon Frank
💍 1921/9814

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Shop Assistant

27
24

Nelson
Nelson

3 years
24 years

In the St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manuka Street

2480

23 February 1921

Rev. H. B. Campbell, Roman Catholic

No	19
Date of Notice	23 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold George William Frank	Inez Barnavoor Frank
BDM Match (79%)	Harold George Williams	Inez Carnaivon Frank
	💍 1921/9814
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Shop Assistant
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manuka Street
Folio	2480
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Campbell, 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).