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 2188

District of 31 December 1921 Quarter ending Wairau Registrar R. G. Butcher

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 November 1921

Philip Ormstien
Zoe Patchett

Philip Ornstien
Zoe Patchett
💍 1921/3943

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Clerk

28
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

2 years
22 years

Church of Nativity, Blenheim

10185

16 November 1921

Rev. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

No	83
Date of Notice	16 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Ormstien	Zoe Patchett
BDM Match (97%)	Philip Ornstien	Zoe Patchett
	💍 1921/3943
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Clerk
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	10185
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

17 November 1921

Charles Oswald Freeth
Margaret Mary Tapp

Charles Oswald Freeth
Margaret Mary Tapp
💍 1921/3944

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

32
20

Blenheim
Grovetown

30 years
14 years

Methodist Church, Grovetown

10186

father

17 November 1921

Rev. D. J. Murray, Methodist

No	84
Date of Notice	17 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Oswald Freeth	Margaret Mary Tapp
	💍 1921/3944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Grovetown
Length of Residence	30 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Grovetown
Folio	10186
Consent	father
Date of Certificate	17 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Methodist

21 November 1921

Allan Smith
Frances Mary Newport

Allan Smith
Frances Mary Newport
💍 1921/3945

Bachelor
Spinster

Steward
Domestic Duties

40
41

Blenheim
Blenheim

16 years
41 years

Roman Catholic Church

10187

21 November 1921

Rev. T. M. Heffernan, Roman Catholic

No	85
Date of Notice	21 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Smith	Frances Mary Newport
	💍 1921/3945
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Steward	Domestic Duties
Age	40	41
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	16 years	41 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	10187
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. M. Heffernan, Roman Catholic

28 November 1921

Walter Burroughs Lucas
Ella Smith

Walter Burroughs Lucas
Ella Smith
💍 1921/3946

Bachelor
Spinster

Shop Assistant
Domestic

32
26

Spring Creek
Spring Creek

10 years
26 years

Church of Jua Marina

10188

28 November 1921

Rev. D. J. Murray, Church of England

No	86
Date of Notice	28 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Burroughs Lucas	Ella Smith
	💍 1921/3946
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shop Assistant	Domestic
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Spring Creek	Spring Creek
Length of Residence	10 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Church of Jua Marina
Folio	10188
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Church of England

28 November 1921

Frederick Ernest John Heale
Katie Mildred Blay

Frederick Ernest John Healee
Katie Mildred Clay
💍 1921/3947

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Milliner

38
30

Blenheim
Blenheim

28 days
4 days

Church of Nativity, Blenheim

10189

28 November 1921

Rev. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

No	87
Date of Notice	28 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Ernest John Heale	Katie Mildred Blay
BDM Match (95%)	Frederick Ernest John Healee	Katie Mildred Clay
	💍 1921/3947
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Milliner
Age	38	30
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	28 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Church of Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	10189
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. G. W. York, 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).