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 2170

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 March 1921 Registrar R. 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

5 March 1921

Otto Herbert Schwass
Mabel Helena Stacey

Otto Herbert Schwass
Mabel Helena Stacey
💍 1921/9745

Bachelor
Spinster

Musterer
Domestic Duties

20
17

Blenheim
Blenheim

20 years
10 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

21/2427

Eleanor Mary Schwass, mother; Burt Stacey, father.

5 March 1921

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

No	16
Date of Notice	5 March 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Otto Herbert Schwass	Mabel Helena Stacey
	💍 1921/9745
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Musterer	Domestic Duties
Age	20	17
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	20 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	21/2427
Consent	Eleanor Mary Schwass, mother; Burt Stacey, father.
Date of Certificate	5 March 1921
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England.

5 March 1921

Maxwell Clive Simson
Aileen Florence Kennington

Maxwell Clive Simson
Aileen Florence Kennington
💍 1921/9756

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic Duties

22
22

Seddon
Seddon

1 day
22 years

Residence of Mr. John Kennington, Seddon

21/2428

6 March 1921

Mr. E. T. King, Presbyterian

No	17
Date of Notice	5 March 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maxwell Clive Simson	Aileen Florence Kennington
	💍 1921/9756
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic Duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Seddon	Seddon
Length of Residence	1 day	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. John Kennington, Seddon
Folio	21/2428
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1921
Officiating Minister	Mr. E. T. King, Presbyterian

15 March 1921

Herbert John Thomson
Tressea Adelaide Jackson

Herbert John Thomson
Tressea Adelaide Jackson
💍 1921/9763

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic Duties

25
26

Ward
Blenheim

16 years
26 years

Methodist Church, Blenheim

21/2429

15 March 1921

Rev. W. Greenslade, Methodist

No	18
Date of Notice	15 March 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert John Thomson	Tressea Adelaide Jackson
	💍 1921/9763
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Ward	Blenheim
Length of Residence	16 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Blenheim
Folio	21/2429
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Greenslade, Methodist

16 March 1921

Thomas Mears
Mary Ann Gardiner

Norman Mears
Mary Ann Gardiner
💍 1921/9764

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Domestic Duties

21
24

Blenheim
Blenheim

21 years
1 year

Methodist Parsonage, Blenheim

21/2430

16 March 1921

Rev. W. Greenslade, Methodist

No	19
Date of Notice	16 March 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Mears	Mary Ann Gardiner
BDM Match (83%)	Norman Mears	Mary Ann Gardiner
	💍 1921/9764
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	21 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage, Blenheim
Folio	21/2430
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Greenslade, Methodist

19 March 1921

Gilbert Beach
Coralis Gladys Ethel Fissenden

Gilbert Beach
Coralis Gladys Ethel Fissenden
💍 1921/9765

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant
Domestic Duties

28
20

Seddon
Blind River

1 year 3 months
20 years

Residence of Mrs. E. Fissenden, Blind River

21/2431

Elizabeth Emma Fissenden, mother.

19 March 1921

Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Church of England.

No	20
Date of Notice	19 March 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Beach	Coralis Gladys Ethel Fissenden
	💍 1921/9765
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant	Domestic Duties
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Seddon	Blind River
Length of Residence	1 year 3 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. E. Fissenden, Blind River
Folio	21/2431
Consent	Elizabeth Emma Fissenden, mother.
Date of Certificate	19 March 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Bloyce, 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).