Intentions to Marry, 1921 Cust to Dunedin

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840502, 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.

1921g contains pages 2691-3126, covering districts from Cust to Dunedin

Page 2859

District of 30 September 1921 Quarter ending Timaru Registrar A. U. Dakey

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

112

8 August 1921

Sidney Wilson
Margaret McGregor Dickson

Sidney Wilson
Margaret McGregor Dickson
💍 1921/4522

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocery Salesman
Dressmaker

32
28

Timaru
Timaru

Life
Life

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

7841

8 August 1921

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	112
Date of Notice	8 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Wilson	Margaret McGregor Dickson
	💍 1921/4522
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocery Salesman	Dressmaker
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	7841
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

113

9 August 1921

James Michael O'Connor
Mary Monica O'Shaughnessy

James Michael O'Connor
Mary Monica O'Shanghessy
💍 1921/4523

Widower
Spinster

Police Constable
Domestic Duties

37
31

Timaru
Timaru

13 months
13 months

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

7842

9 August 1921

Rev. D. H. Hurley, Roman Catholic

No	113
Date of Notice	9 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Michael O'Connor	Mary Monica O'Shaughnessy
BDM Match (96%)	James Michael O'Connor	Mary Monica O'Shanghessy
	💍 1921/4523
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable	Domestic Duties
Age	37	31
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	13 months	13 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	7842
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. H. Hurley, Roman Catholic

114

15 August 1921

Cedric Smith
Elizabeth Keith Annand Simmers

Cedric Smith
Elizabeth Keith Annand Simmers
💍 1921/4524

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor
Domestic Duties

30
25

Timaru
17 Selwyn Street, Timaru

2 years
Residence of Bride's Parents

Residence of Bride's Parents, 17 Selwyn Street, Timaru

7843

15 August 1921

Rev. T. Stinson, Presbyterian

No	114
Date of Notice	15 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cedric Smith	Elizabeth Keith Annand Simmers
	💍 1921/4524
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor	Domestic Duties
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Timaru	17 Selwyn Street, Timaru
Length of Residence	2 years	Residence of Bride's Parents
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Parents, 17 Selwyn Street, Timaru
Folio	7843
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 August 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Stinson, Presbyterian

115

23 August 1921

Richard Wilson
Helen Welsh Preen

Richard Wilson
Helen Welsh Preen
💍 1921/4525

Widower
Widow

Storeman
Domestic Duties

50
41

Timaru
9 High Street, Timaru

5 years
Residence of Bride's Parents

Residence of Bride's Parents, 9 High Street, Timaru

7844

23 August 1921

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	115
Date of Notice	23 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Wilson	Helen Welsh Preen
	💍 1921/4525
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Storeman	Domestic Duties
Age	50	41
Dwelling Place	Timaru	9 High Street, Timaru
Length of Residence	5 years	Residence of Bride's Parents
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Parents, 9 High Street, Timaru
Folio	7844
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

116

23 August 1921

John Shennan Smith
Jane Maud Jeffree

John Shennan Smith
Jane Maud Jeffree
💍 1921/4527

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Duties

27
25

Craigmore
Timaru

3 months
3 months

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

7845

23 August 1921

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	116
Date of Notice	23 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Shennan Smith	Jane Maud Jeffree
	💍 1921/4527
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Duties
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Craigmore	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	7845
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

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).