Intentions to Marry, 1922 Kaikoura to Christchurch

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840509, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1922 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.

1922f contains pages 2059-2580, covering districts from Kaikoura to Christchurch

Page 2085

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 March 1922 Registrar C. B. 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

28 January 1922

Harold Robert Redvers Botham
Alice Vida Mitchener

Harold Robert Redvers Botham
Alice Vida Mitchener
💍 1922/3257

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Assistant
Domestic Duties

21
20

Tua Marina
Tua Marina

21 years
2 days

Methodist Parsonage, Blenheim

22/1968

Walter Ambrose Mitchener, father

28 January 1922

Rev. W. Greenslade, Methodist

No	11
Date of Notice	28 January 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Robert Redvers Botham	Alice Vida Mitchener
	💍 1922/3257
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Assistant	Domestic Duties
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Tua Marina	Tua Marina
Length of Residence	21 years	2 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage, Blenheim
Folio	22/1968
Consent	Walter Ambrose Mitchener, father
Date of Certificate	28 January 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Greenslade, Methodist

2 February 1922

John Walter Thomas
Mary Ann Carratt

John Walter Thomas
Mary Ann Carratt
💍 1922/3258

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic

27
23

Grovetown
Grovetown

27 years
4 months

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

22/1969

2 February 1922

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

No	12
Date of Notice	2 February 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Walter Thomas	Mary Ann Carratt
	💍 1922/3258
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Grovetown	Grovetown
Length of Residence	27 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	22/1969
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1922
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

7 February 1922

John Richard Congdon
Marjorie Dempsey

John Richard Congdon
Marjorie Dempsey
💍 1922/3260

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller's Apprentice
Domestic

15
17

Blenheim
Blenheim

2 years
17 years

Registrar's Office, Blenheim

22/1970

Bridegroom: John Edward Congdon, father. Bride: No person in New Zealand to give consent.

23 February 1922

Mr. C. E. Butcher, Registrar

No	13
Date of Notice	7 February 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Richard Congdon	Marjorie Dempsey
	💍 1922/3260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller's Apprentice	Domestic
Age	15	17
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	2 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Blenheim
Folio	22/1970
Consent	Bridegroom: John Edward Congdon, father. Bride: No person in New Zealand to give consent.
Date of Certificate	23 February 1922
Officiating Minister	Mr. C. E. Butcher, Registrar

10 February 1922

Thomas Henry Tidd
Annie Smith

Thomas Henry Tidd
Annie Smith
💍 1922/3261

Thomas Helliwell
Alice Smith
💍 1922/4623

William Edward Luff
Annie Smith
💍 1922/9496

Divorced (Decree absolute 20-5-1919)
Divorced (Decree absolute 9-2-1922)

Labourer
Domestic

53
45

Blenheim
Blenheim

9 days
9 days

Registrar's Office, Blenheim

22/1971

10 February 1922

Mr. C. E. Butcher, Registrar

No	14
Date of Notice	10 February 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Tidd	Annie Smith
	💍 1922/3261
BDM Match (63%)	Thomas Helliwell	Alice Smith
	💍 1922/4623
BDM Match (61%)	William Edward Luff	Annie Smith
	💍 1922/9496
Condition	Divorced (Decree absolute 20-5-1919)	Divorced (Decree absolute 9-2-1922)
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	53	45
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	9 days	9 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Blenheim
Folio	22/1971
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1922
Officiating Minister	Mr. C. E. Butcher, Registrar

15 February 1922

Fredrick Axel Pedersen
Ena Rose Ross

Fredrick Axel Pedersen
Ena Rose Ross
💍 1922/3262

Bachelor
Spinster

Block Layer
Domestic Servant

23
21

Renwicktown
Renwicktown

2 days
3 months

Registrar's Office, Blenheim

22/1972

15 February 1922

Mr. C. E. Butcher, Registrar

No	15
Date of Notice	15 February 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fredrick Axel Pedersen	Ena Rose Ross
	💍 1922/3262
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Block Layer	Domestic Servant
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	2 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Blenheim
Folio	22/1972
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1922
Officiating Minister	Mr. C. E. Butcher, 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).