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 2153

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

22 February 1923

Alfred Llewellyn Durrant Hounsell
Elizabeth Beatrice Morgan

Alfred Llewellyn Durrant Hounsell
Elizabeth Beatrice Morgan
💍 1923/1048

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Nurse

24
21

Blenheim
Blenheim

24 years
6 years

Catholic Church, Blenheim

23/2172

22 February 1923

Rev. T. N. Heffernan, Catholic

No	11
Date of Notice	22 February 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Llewellyn Durrant Hounsell	Elizabeth Beatrice Morgan
	💍 1923/1048
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Nurse
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	24 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	23/2172
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. N. Heffernan, Catholic

21 March 1923

Henry Jellyman
Alice Smart

Henry Jellyman
Alice Smart
💍 1923/1049

Widower 9-1-23
Widow 18-1-1909

Veterinary Surgeon
Domestic Duties

73
59

Blenheim
Blenheim

51 years
26 years

Residence of W. Askew Jnr., Springlands, Blenheim

23/2173

21 March 1923

Rev. William Greenslade, Methodist

No	12
Date of Notice	21 March 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Jellyman	Alice Smart
	💍 1923/1049
Condition	Widower 9-1-23	Widow 18-1-1909
Profession	Veterinary Surgeon	Domestic Duties
Age	73	59
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	51 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. Askew Jnr., Springlands, Blenheim
Folio	23/2173
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Greenslade, Methodist

23 March 1923

Geoffrey Adrian Revell
Margaret Helen de Castro

Geoffrey Adrian Revell
Margaret Helen de Castro
💍 1923/1050

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor
Domestic Duties

26
30

Blenheim (from Greymouth)
Blenheim

3 days
3 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

23/2174

23 March 1923

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

No	13
Date of Notice	23 March 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Geoffrey Adrian Revell	Margaret Helen de Castro
	💍 1923/1050
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor	Domestic Duties
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Blenheim (from Greymouth)	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	23/2174
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1923
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

27 March 1923

John Ewart
Jessie Violet Dougall Hanna

John Ewart
Jessie Violet Dougall Hanna
💍 1923/1051

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Clerk

28
27

Blenheim
Gore

4 days

Presbyterian Church, Blenheim

23/2175

27 March 1923

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	14
Date of Notice	27 March 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ewart	Jessie Violet Dougall Hanna
	💍 1923/1051
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Clerk
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Gore
Length of Residence	4 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Blenheim
Folio	23/2175
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

27 March 1923

Leonard Bertram Dunckley
Katie Judita Bentley

Leonard Bertram Duckley
Katie Judita Bentley
💍 1923/2465

Bachelor
Divorced 7-8-21

Gasfitter
Domestic

31
31

Blenheim
Blenheim

31 years
10 years

Methodist Church, Blenheim

23/2176

28 March 1923

Rev. W. Greenslade, Methodist

No	15
Date of Notice	27 March 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Bertram Dunckley	Katie Judita Bentley
BDM Match (98%)	Leonard Bertram Duckley	Katie Judita Bentley
	💍 1923/2465
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced 7-8-21
Profession	Gasfitter	Domestic
Age	31	31
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	31 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Blenheim
Folio	23/2176
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Greenslade, Methodist

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).