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 2096

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 September 1922 Registrar N. M. Chesney

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

21 August 1922

Connell Richard Newman
Martha Marjorie Freeman

Connell Richard Newman
Martha Marjorie Freeman
💍 1922/8811

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

17
17

Renwicktown
Renwicktown

17 years
15 years

Catholic Church, Blenheim

22/6656

Samuel Newman (father) for groom; M. M. Freeman (father dead, no one in N.Z. legally entitled) for bride

6 September 1922

Rev. C. O'Reilly, Catholic

No	60
Date of Notice	21 August 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Connell Richard Newman	Martha Marjorie Freeman
	💍 1922/8811
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	17	17
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	17 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	22/6656
Consent	Samuel Newman (father) for groom; M. M. Freeman (father dead, no one in N.Z. legally entitled) for bride
Date of Certificate	6 September 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. O'Reilly, Catholic

9 September 1922

Charles Callaway
Elizabeth Hartley

Charles Callaway
Elizabeth Hartley
💍 1922/8812

Divorced (12-5-22)
Widow (1-9-07)

Farmer
Domestic Duties

55
53

Wairau Valley
Wairau Valley

9 years
9 years

Registrar's Office, Blenheim

6657

9 September 1922

N. M. Chesney, Registrar

No	61
Date of Notice	9 September 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Callaway	Elizabeth Hartley
	💍 1922/8812
Condition	Divorced (12-5-22)	Widow (1-9-07)
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	55	53
Dwelling Place	Wairau Valley	Wairau Valley
Length of Residence	9 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Blenheim
Folio	6657
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 September 1922
Officiating Minister	N. M. Chesney, Registrar

4 September 1922

Stanley John Mears
Linda Monica Brydon Haines

Stanley John Mears
Linda Monica Brydon Haines
💍 1922/8813

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

29
23

Blenheim
Blenheim

29 years
23 years

Residence of Rev. W. O. Robb, Springlands, Blenheim

6658

4 September 1922

Rev. William Officer Robb, Presbyterian

No	62
Date of Notice	4 September 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley John Mears	Linda Monica Brydon Haines
	💍 1922/8813
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	29 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. W. O. Robb, Springlands, Blenheim
Folio	6658
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Officer Robb, Presbyterian

23 September 1922

Allan Edwin Thompson
Mary Margaret Smith

Allan Edwin Thompson
Mary Margaret Smith
💍 1922/8814

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

38
28

Tua Marina
Riverlands

38 years
10 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

6659

23 September 1922

Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	63
Date of Notice	23 September 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Edwin Thompson	Mary Margaret Smith
	💍 1922/8814
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Tua Marina	Riverlands
Length of Residence	38 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	6659
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 September 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

28 September 1922

Frank Power
Elizabeth Annie Haines

Frank Power
Elizabeth Annie Haines
💍 1922/8791

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Duties

34
28

Renwicktown
Renwicktown

11 years
28 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

6660

28 September 1922

Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	64
Date of Notice	28 September 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Power	Elizabeth Annie Haines
	💍 1922/8791
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Duties
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	11 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	6660
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 September 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

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).