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 Wairau Quarter ending 31 December 1921 Registrar C. E. 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 Ornstien
Zoe Patchett

Philip Ornstien
Zoe Patchett
💍 1921/3943

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Clerk

28
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

2 years
22 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

21/10185

16 November 1921

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

No	83
Date of Notice	16 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	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 the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	21/10185
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Ven. 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

21/10186

Charles Tapp, 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	21/10186
Consent	Charles Tapp, 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, Blenheim

21/10187

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, Blenheim
Folio	21/10187
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

Methodist Church, Tua Marina

21/10188

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	Methodist Church, Tua Marina
Folio	21/10188
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Church of England

28 November 1921

Frederick Ernest John Healee
Katie Mildred Clay

Frederick Ernest John Healee
Katie Mildred Clay
💍 1921/3947

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Milliner

38
30

Blenheim
Blenheim

2 days
4 days

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

21/10189

28 November 1921

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

No	87
Date of Notice	28 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	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	2 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	21/10189
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Ven. 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).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

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.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

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).