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 2178

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 June 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

6 June 1921

Edgar Roydon Norgrove
Mary Ann Annand

Edgar Roydon Norgrove
Mary Ann Annand
💍 1921/6958

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

42
31

Blenheim
Blenheim

40 years
5 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

21/5162

6 June 1921

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

No	48
Date of Notice	6 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Roydon Norgrove	Mary Ann Annand
	💍 1921/6958
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	42	31
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	40 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	21/5162
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

13 June 1921

George William Beer
Agnes Pearl Dalziel

George William Beer
Agnes Pearl Dalziel
💍 1921/6959

Widower
Spinster

Shepherd
Shop Assistant

36
21

Blenheim
Blenheim

2 years
21 years

Presbyterian Church, Blenheim

21/5163

13 June 1921

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	49
Date of Notice	13 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Beer	Agnes Pearl Dalziel
	💍 1921/6959
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Shop Assistant
Age	36	21
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	2 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Blenheim
Folio	21/5163
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

13 June 1921

Timothy Patrick O'Connor
Isabella Frances Mills

Timothy Patrick O'Connor
Isabella Frances Mills
💍 1921/6960

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

37
32

Blenheim
Renwicktown

37 years
32 years

Catholic Church, Renwicktown

21/5164

13 June 1921

Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	50
Date of Notice	13 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Timothy Patrick O'Connor	Isabella Frances Mills
	💍 1921/6960
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	37	32
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	37 years	32 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Renwicktown
Folio	21/5164
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

13 June 1921

Thomas Ormsby Stark
Ellen Tombs

Thomas Ormsby Stark
Ellen Tombs
💍 1921/6961

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home Duties

36
31

Spring Creek
Spring Creek

4 days
31 years

Church of England, Spring Creek

21/5165

13 June 1921

Rev. W. Wollstein, Church of England

No	51
Date of Notice	13 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Ormsby Stark	Ellen Tombs
	💍 1921/6961
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home Duties
Age	36	31
Dwelling Place	Spring Creek	Spring Creek
Length of Residence	4 days	31 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Spring Creek
Folio	21/5165
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Wollstein, Church of England

21 June 1921

Albert John Smith
Eurie Jess Williams

Albert John Smith
Eurie Jess Williams
💍 1921/6962

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
29

Tua Marina
Tua Marina

29 years
15 years

Residence of Mr. S. Harris, Tua Marina

21/5166

21 June 1921

Rev. D. J. Murray, Methodist

No	52
Date of Notice	21 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Smith	Eurie Jess Williams
	💍 1921/6962
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Tua Marina	Tua Marina
Length of Residence	29 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. S. Harris, Tua Marina
Folio	21/5166
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, 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).