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 2207

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1922 Registrar S. Tyson

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

5 January 1922

James McAleary
Doris Road

James McCleary
Doris Noad
💍 1922/3289

Bachelor
Spinster

Typographical Mechanic
Domestic

25
21

Nelson
Nelson

4 weeks
3 months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

1999

5 January 1922

S. Tyson, Registrar of Marriages

No	1
Date of Notice	5 January 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McAleary	Doris Road
BDM Match (91%)	James McCleary	Doris Noad
	💍 1922/3289
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Typographical Mechanic	Domestic
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 weeks	3 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	1999
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1922
Officiating Minister	S. Tyson, Registrar of Marriages

4 January 1922

John Joseph Lenihan
Emma Lancaster

John Joseph Lenihan
Emma Lancaster
💍 1922/3290

Widower (28th December 1914)
Widow (16th September 1918)

Labourer
Domestic

45
49

Nelson
Nelson

4 days
4 days

Catholic Presbytery, Nile Street, Nelson

2000

4 January 1922

Rev. R. Sloane, Roman Catholic

No	2
Date of Notice	4 January 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph Lenihan	Emma Lancaster
	💍 1922/3290
Condition	Widower (28th December 1914)	Widow (16th September 1918)
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	45	49
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Catholic Presbytery, Nile Street, Nelson
Folio	2000
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Sloane, Roman Catholic

10 January 1922

John Roy Hale
Hazel Rosella Gibbins

John Roy Hale
Hazel Rosella Gibbins
💍 1922/3298

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Domestic duties

30
23

Nelson
Nelson

12 years
5 years

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson

2001

10 January 1922

Rev. J. de Galvey, Church of England

No	3
Date of Notice	10 January 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Roy Hale	Hazel Rosella Gibbins
	💍 1922/3298
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Domestic duties
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	2001
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. de Galvey, Church of England

12 January 1922

Ronald Buckrell
Hilda Annie Wright

Ronald Buckrell
Hilda Annie Wright
💍 1922/3309

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

28
22

Nelson
Nelson

4 years
1 day

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

2002

12 January 1922

J. B. Shanaghan, Deputy Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	12 January 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ronald Buckrell	Hilda Annie Wright
	💍 1922/3309
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 years	1 day
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	2002
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1922
Officiating Minister	J. B. Shanaghan, Deputy Registrar

19 January 1922

Newton McBonochie
Florence Mary Miller

Newton McConochie
Florence Mary Miller
💍 1922/3316

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School teacher

31
23

Nelson
Nelson

1 day
23 years

Baptist Church, Bridge Street, Nelson

2003

14 January 1922

Rev. J. Laird, Baptist

No	5
Date of Notice	19 January 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Newton McBonochie	Florence Mary Miller
BDM Match (97%)	Newton McConochie	Florence Mary Miller
	💍 1922/3316
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School teacher
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	1 day	23 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Bridge Street, Nelson
Folio	2003
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Laird, Baptist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).