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 3289

District of 31 March 1921 Quarter ending Port Chalmers Registrar F. Brebner

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

31 January 1921

Robin James Norman Austin
Rosina Farrant Bayne

Robin James Norman Austin
Rosina Farrant Bayne
💍 1921/10029

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Machinist

20
22

Sawyers Bay
Sawyers Bay

20 years
22 years

In the house of M.C. Perry, Sawyers Bay

2774

W. Austin, Father

31 January 1921

J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	1
Date of Notice	31 January 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robin James Norman Austin	Rosina Farrant Bayne
	💍 1921/10029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Machinist
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	Sawyers Bay	Sawyers Bay
Length of Residence	20 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the house of M.C. Perry, Sawyers Bay
Folio	2774
Consent	W. Austin, Father
Date of Certificate	31 January 1921
Officiating Minister	J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

4 February 1921

George Paul
Margaret Helen Rumsey

George Paul
Margaret Helen Rumsey
💍 1921/10030

Bachelor
Spinster

Billiard Saloon Proprietor
Domestic duties

30
19

Sawyers Bay
Sawyers Bay

9 days
6 weeks

In the house of A. Rumsey, Sawyers Bay

2775

A. Rumsey, Father

4 February 1921

J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	2
Date of Notice	4 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Paul	Margaret Helen Rumsey
	💍 1921/10030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Billiard Saloon Proprietor	Domestic duties
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Sawyers Bay	Sawyers Bay
Length of Residence	9 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of A. Rumsey, Sawyers Bay
Folio	2775
Consent	A. Rumsey, Father
Date of Certificate	4 February 1921
Officiating Minister	J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

9 February 1921

James Cassel Ripley
Annie McGlashan Morris

James Cassel Ripley
Annie McGlashan Morris
💍 1921/10188

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Domestic duties

58
44

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

30 years
30 years

In the Presbyterian Mance, Port Chalmers

2776

9 February 1921

J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	3
Date of Notice	9 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Cassel Ripley	Annie McGlashan Morris
	💍 1921/10188
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Domestic duties
Age	58	44
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	30 years	30 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Mance, Port Chalmers
Folio	2776
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1921
Officiating Minister	J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

22 February 1921

James Wright Elliott Armour
Orna Josephine de Maus

James Wright Elliott Armour
Orma Josephine De Maus
💍 1921/10199

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

26
26

Gimmerburn
Port Chalmers

3 days
2 years

In the Holy Trinity Church, Port Chalmers

2777

22 February 1921

H. Shalto Bishop, Church of England

No	4
Date of Notice	22 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wright Elliott Armour	Orna Josephine de Maus
BDM Match (95%)	James Wright Elliott Armour	Orma Josephine De Maus
	💍 1921/10199
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Gimmerburn	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Holy Trinity Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	2777
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1921
Officiating Minister	H. Shalto Bishop, Church of England

18 March 1921

William Watson
Elizabeth Currow

William Watson
Elizabeth Curror
💍 1921/10206

William Watson
Olive Augusta Foweraker
💍 1921/299

Bachelor
Widow

Shipwright
Domestic duties

38
38

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

7 years
9 years

In the Presbyterian Mance, Port Chalmers

2778

18 March 1921

J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	5
Date of Notice	18 March 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Watson	Elizabeth Currow
BDM Match (97%)	William Watson	Elizabeth Curror
	💍 1921/10206
BDM Match (61%)	William Watson	Olive Augusta Foweraker
	💍 1921/299
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Shipwright	Domestic duties
Age	38	38
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	7 years	9 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Mance, Port Chalmers
Folio	2778
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1921
Officiating Minister	J. M. Simpson, 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).