Intentions to Marry, 1921 Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840503, 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.

1921h contains pages 3127-3538, covering districts from Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Page 3145

District of 30 June 1921 Quarter ending East Taieri Registrar W. R. Howan

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

2 April 1921

William Watt Wilman
Jessie Gamble

William Watt Wilman
Jessie Gamble
💍 1921/7157

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

30
25

Wyllies Crossing
Wyllies Crossing

3 months
life

First Church, Dunedin

5461

2 April 1921

G. H. Balfour, Presbyterian

No	8
Date of Notice	2 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Watt Wilman	Jessie Gamble
	💍 1921/7157
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Wyllies Crossing	Wyllies Crossing
Length of Residence	3 months	life
Marriage Place	First Church, Dunedin
Folio	5461
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1921
Officiating Minister	G. H. Balfour, Presbyterian

15 April 1921

Joseph Smith
Margaret Orr Spratt

Joseph Smith
Margaret Orr Spratt
💍 1921/7158

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

60
39

Mosgiel
Mosgiel

1 day
3 months

Residence of John Spratt, Mosgiel

5462

15 April 1921

D. McCosh, Presbyterian

No	9
Date of Notice	15 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Smith	Margaret Orr Spratt
	💍 1921/7158
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	60	39
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel	Mosgiel
Length of Residence	1 day	3 months
Marriage Place	Residence of John Spratt, Mosgiel
Folio	5462
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1921
Officiating Minister	D. McCosh, Presbyterian

25 April 1921

Frank Auchinleck Cheyne
Ethel Carter

Frank Auchinleck Cheyne
Ethel Carter
💍 1921/7159

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic Duties

22
22

Mosgiel
Mosgiel

20 years
2 years

St Lukes Anglican Church, Mosgiel

5463

25 April 1921

C. J. Bush King, Anglican

No	10
Date of Notice	25 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Auchinleck Cheyne	Ethel Carter
	💍 1921/7159
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel	Mosgiel
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St Lukes Anglican Church, Mosgiel
Folio	5463
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 April 1921
Officiating Minister	C. J. Bush King, Anglican

10 May 1921

Ernest Henry Arnold Roberts
Robina Jean McLeod

Ernest Henry Arnold Roberts
Robina Jean McLeod
💍 1921/7160

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry Cook
Domestic Duties

20
22

Mosgiel
Mosgiel

18 years
2 years

Residence of Rev. F. E. Foot, Mosgiel

5464

Henry Roberts, father

10 May 1921

F. E. Foot, Methodist

No	11
Date of Notice	10 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Henry Arnold Roberts	Robina Jean McLeod
	💍 1921/7160
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry Cook	Domestic Duties
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel	Mosgiel
Length of Residence	18 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. F. E. Foot, Mosgiel
Folio	5464
Consent	Henry Roberts, father
Date of Certificate	10 May 1921
Officiating Minister	F. E. Foot, Methodist

11 May 1921

Edwin John Chiles
Elizabeth May Harris

Edwin John Chiles
Elizabeth May Harris
💍 1921/7161

Edward John Bilkey
Dulcie May Harris
💍 1921/2928

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Woollen Mill Employee

23
21

Mosgiel
Mosgiel

8 years
life

Residence of Mrs. T. Harris, Mosgiel Junction

5465

11 May 1921

C. R. Weston, Baptist

No	12
Date of Notice	11 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin John Chiles	Elizabeth May Harris
	💍 1921/7161
BDM Match (61%)	Edward John Bilkey	Dulcie May Harris
	💍 1921/2928
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Woollen Mill Employee
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel	Mosgiel
Length of Residence	8 years	life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. T. Harris, Mosgiel Junction
Folio	5465
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1921
Officiating Minister	C. R. Weston, Baptist

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).