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 2840

District of 31 March 1921 Quarter ending Timaru Registrar Leslie C. Bruce

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

11 February 1921

Douglas Graham Wallace
Gillias Ellen Doull

Douglas Graham Wallace
Lillias Ellen Doull
💍 1921/10920

Bachelor
Spinster

Ranger
Clerk

27
23

Timaru
Timaru

5 years
5 years

Highfield Presbyterian Church, Timaru

2660

11 February 1921

Rev. A. Begg, Presbyterian

No	26
Date of Notice	11 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Graham Wallace	Gillias Ellen Doull
BDM Match (97%)	Douglas Graham Wallace	Lillias Ellen Doull
	💍 1921/10920
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ranger	Clerk
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Highfield Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	2660
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Begg, Presbyterian

15 February 1921

Stephen Jellow
Alice Maud Ward

Stephen Dellow
Alice Maud Ward
💍 1921/10149

Widower
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic Duties

34
25

Timaru
Timaru

19-12-19
1 year

Bridegroom's residence, 35 Seaview Street, Timaru

2952

15 February 1921

Rev. E. Nicholls, Baptist

No	27
Date of Notice	15 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Jellow	Alice Maud Ward
BDM Match (96%)	Stephen Dellow	Alice Maud Ward
	💍 1921/10149
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic Duties
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	19-12-19	1 year
Marriage Place	Bridegroom's residence, 35 Seaview Street, Timaru
Folio	2952
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Nicholls, Baptist

17 February 1921

Stanley Culbert Taylor
Clara Jane Clifford

Stanley Gilbert Taylor
Clara Jane Clifford
💍 1921/9966

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

19
20

Timaru
Timaru

3 years
5 years

Registrar's Office, Timaru

2661

James Edward Taylor, Grandfather (Father)

17 February 1921

Leslie C. Bruce, Deputy Registrar

No	28
Date of Notice	17 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Culbert Taylor	Clara Jane Clifford
BDM Match (95%)	Stanley Gilbert Taylor	Clara Jane Clifford
	💍 1921/9966
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	19	20
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	2661
Consent	James Edward Taylor, Grandfather (Father)
Date of Certificate	17 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Leslie C. Bruce, Deputy Registrar

19 February 1921

George Pingson Bulley
Blanche Bulley

George Hingson Bulley
Blanche Bulley
💍 1921/9967

Bachelor
Widow

Electrician
Domestic Duties

47
50

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Timaru

2662

19 February 1921

Leslie C. Bruce, Deputy Registrar

No	29
Date of Notice	19 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Pingson Bulley	Blanche Bulley
BDM Match (98%)	George Hingson Bulley	Blanche Bulley
	💍 1921/9967
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Electrician	Domestic Duties
Age	47	50
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	2662
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Leslie C. Bruce, Deputy Registrar

19 February 1921

Rimon Beresford Ritchie
Elsie Alma Scarf

Nimon Beresford Ritchie
Elsie Alma Scarf
💍 1921/9968

Bachelor
Spinster

Wood Machinist
Dressmaker

20
20

Timaru
Timaru

7 years
2 years

Registrar's Office, Timaru

2663

Alice Ann Ritchie (Mother)

19 February 1921

Leslie C. Bruce, Deputy Registrar

No	30
Date of Notice	19 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rimon Beresford Ritchie	Elsie Alma Scarf
BDM Match (98%)	Nimon Beresford Ritchie	Elsie Alma Scarf
	💍 1921/9968
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wood Machinist	Dressmaker
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	7 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	2663
Consent	Alice Ann Ritchie (Mother)
Date of Certificate	19 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Leslie C. Bruce, Deputy Registrar

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).