Intentions to Marry, 1923 Kaikoura to Christchurch

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840517, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1923 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.

1923f contains pages 2125-2670, covering districts from Kaikoura to Christchurch

Page 2151

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 March 1923 Registrar W. R. Miller

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

4 January 1923

Russell Ernest Lacey
Lilian Maude Reid

Russell Ernest Lacey
Lilian Maude Reid
💍 1923/1037

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Domestic Duties

22
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

22 years
7 years

Salvation Army Citadel, Blenheim

23/2162

4 January 1923

Ensign Brown, Salvation Army

No	1
Date of Notice	4 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Russell Ernest Lacey	Lilian Maude Reid
	💍 1923/1037
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Domestic Duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	22 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Citadel, Blenheim
Folio	23/2162
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Ensign Brown, Salvation Army

5 January 1923

Mervyn William Saul
Violet Harriet Adeline Gill

Mervyn William Saul
Violet Harriet Adeline Gill
💍 1923/1038

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

23
18

Springlands, Blenheim
Springlands, Blenheim

23 years
18 years

Residence of Mr. W. Jellyman, Springlands

23/2163

James Gill, Father

5 January 1923

Rev. William Greenslade, Methodist

No	2
Date of Notice	5 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mervyn William Saul	Violet Harriet Adeline Gill
	💍 1923/1038
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Springlands, Blenheim	Springlands, Blenheim
Length of Residence	23 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. W. Jellyman, Springlands
Folio	23/2163
Consent	James Gill, Father
Date of Certificate	5 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Greenslade, Methodist

12 January 1923

William Bell O'Callaghan
Elsie Gladys Davis

William Bell O'Callaghan
Elsie Gladys Davis
💍 1923/1039

Widower 23-9-22
Spinster

Auctioneer
Domestic Duties

37
37

Riversdale, Blenheim
Riversdale, Blenheim

6 months
10 days

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

23/2164

12 January 1923

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

No	3
Date of Notice	12 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Bell O'Callaghan	Elsie Gladys Davis
	💍 1923/1039
Condition	Widower 23-9-22	Spinster
Profession	Auctioneer	Domestic Duties
Age	37	37
Dwelling Place	Riversdale, Blenheim	Riversdale, Blenheim
Length of Residence	6 months	10 days
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	23/2164
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

19 January 1923

Charles Jones
Maria Herd

Charles Jones
Maria Herd
💍 1923/1040

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Duties

35
21

Jordan, Awatere
Old Renwick Road, Blenheim

5 years
21 years

Residence of Alexander Palmer Herd, Old Renwick Road, Blenheim

23/2165

19 January 1923

Rev. T. N. Heffernan, Catholic

No	4
Date of Notice	19 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Jones	Maria Herd
	💍 1923/1040
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Duties
Age	35	21
Dwelling Place	Jordan, Awatere	Old Renwick Road, Blenheim
Length of Residence	5 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Alexander Palmer Herd, Old Renwick Road, Blenheim
Folio	23/2165
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. N. Heffernan, Catholic

24 January 1923

James Kelly
Iris Neta Marguerite Searle

James Kelly
Iris Neta Marguerite Searle
💍 1923/1041

Bachelor
Spinster

Freezing works hand
Domestic Duties

21
16

Blenheim
Picton

3 days
16 years

Catholic Church, Blenheim

23/2166

William Searle, Father

24 January 1923

Rev. T. N. Heffernan, Catholic

No	5
Date of Notice	24 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kelly	Iris Neta Marguerite Searle
	💍 1923/1041
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Freezing works hand	Domestic Duties
Age	21	16
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Picton
Length of Residence	3 days	16 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	23/2166
Consent	William Searle, Father
Date of Certificate	24 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. N. Heffernan, Catholic

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).