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 2353

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 1922 Registrar W. W. White

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

3 July 1922

William James Reeves
Virginia Violet Reeves

William James Reeves
Virginia Violet Reeves
💍 1922/8831

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Weaver

35
28

Ashburton
Ashburton

35 years
28 years

St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton

6749

3 July 1922

Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

No	43
Date of Notice	3 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Reeves	Virginia Violet Reeves
	💍 1922/8831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Weaver
Age	35	28
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	35 years	28 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	6749
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

7 July 1922

George Kirkland Morrow
Margaret Johnston

George Kirkland Morrow
Margaret Johnston
💍 1922/8832

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

32
31

Ashburton
Ashburton

10 years
12 days

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

6750

7 July 1922

Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

No	44
Date of Notice	7 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Kirkland Morrow	Margaret Johnston
	💍 1922/8832
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	10 years	12 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	6750
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

13 July 1922

Henry Thomas Bull
Ethel Maud Eden

Henry Thomas Bull
Ethel Maud Eden
💍 1922/8840

Divorced (decree absolute 7 July 1922)
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

38
26

Ashburton
Ashburton

12 months
3 months

Office of the Registrar, Ashburton

6751

13 July 1922

W. W. White, Registrar

No	45
Date of Notice	13 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Thomas Bull	Ethel Maud Eden
	💍 1922/8840
Condition	Divorced (decree absolute 7 July 1922)	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	12 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Ashburton
Folio	6751
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1922
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

13 July 1922

Frederick David Miller
Beatrice Lilian Ashton

Frederick David Miller
Beatrice Lilian Ashton
💍 1922/8851

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

27
26

Ashburton
Ashburton

14 years
26 years

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

6752

13 July 1922

Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

No	46
Date of Notice	13 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick David Miller	Beatrice Lilian Ashton
	💍 1922/8851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	14 years	26 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	6752
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

13 July 1922

Kingston Bond Luscombe
Florence Helena Bond

Hingston Bond Luscombe
Florence Helena Bond
💍 1922/8858

Divorced (24 Sept 1920)
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
29

Ashburton
Ashburton

2 years
29 years

Presbyterian Church, Henington

6753

13 July 1922

Rev. William Marshall, Presbyterian

No	47
Date of Notice	13 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kingston Bond Luscombe	Florence Helena Bond
BDM Match (98%)	Hingston Bond Luscombe	Florence Helena Bond
	💍 1922/8858
Condition	Divorced (24 Sept 1920)	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	2 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Henington
Folio	6753
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Marshall, Presbyterian

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).