Intentions to Marry, 1922 Cust to Dunedin

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840510, 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.

1922g contains pages 2581-2980, covering districts from Cust to Dunedin

Page 2748

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 December 1922 Registrar L. Duncan

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

111

11 October 1922

Cecil Grant Pettigrew
Irene Penman Foster

Cecil Grant Pettigrew
Irene Penman Foster
💍 1922/6997

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

22
21

Timaru
Timaru

1 year
17 years

Kensington Methodist Church, Timaru

9240

11 October 1922

Rev. Henry Benny, Methodist

No	111
Date of Notice	11 October 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Grant Pettigrew	Irene Penman Foster
	💍 1922/6997
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	1 year	17 years
Marriage Place	Kensington Methodist Church, Timaru
Folio	9240
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Benny, Methodist

112

11 October 1922

James Little
Alison Scott Hall

James Little
Alison Scott Hall
💍 1922/6998

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

37
19

Cave
Timaru

Life
8 months

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

9241

James Branksome Hall, Father

11 October 1922

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	112
Date of Notice	11 October 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Little	Alison Scott Hall
	💍 1922/6998
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	37	19
Dwelling Place	Cave	Timaru
Length of Residence	Life	8 months
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	9241
Consent	James Branksome Hall, Father
Date of Certificate	11 October 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

113

12 October 1922

Richard Loversidge
Maud Caroline Smith

Richard Loversidge
Maud Caroline Smith
💍 1922/6999

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker
Dressmaker

28
24

Christchurch
Timaru

11 years
10 years

Bank Street Anglican Church, Timaru

9242

12 October 1922

Rev. H. W. Smith, Anglican

No	113
Date of Notice	12 October 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Loversidge	Maud Caroline Smith
	💍 1922/6999
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker	Dressmaker
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Timaru
Length of Residence	11 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Bank Street Anglican Church, Timaru
Folio	9242
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Smith, Anglican

114

13 October 1922

Percy Edward Clark
Lilian Gertrude Smith

Percy Edward Clark
Lilian Gertrude Smith
💍 1922/7348

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

31
24

Timaru
Smithfield, Timaru

10 years
Life

St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru

9594

13 October 1922

Ven. Arch. J. A. Julius, Anglican

No	114
Date of Notice	13 October 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Edward Clark	Lilian Gertrude Smith
	💍 1922/7348
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Smithfield, Timaru
Length of Residence	10 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru
Folio	9594
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1922
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. J. A. Julius, Anglican

115

13 October 1922

John William Ferguson
Annie Georgina Thorne

John William Ferguson
Annie Georgina Horne
💍 1922/7000

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant
Woollen Weaver

23
22

Timaru
Timaru

Life
6 years

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

9243

13 October 1922

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	115
Date of Notice	13 October 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Ferguson	Annie Georgina Thorne
BDM Match (95%)	John William Ferguson	Annie Georgina Horne
	💍 1922/7000
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant	Woollen Weaver
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	Life	6 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	9243
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, 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).