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 2283

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1923 Registrar W. M. Egglestone

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

13 June 1923

Walter John Biggar
Dorothy Beatrice Chrystall Corby

Walter John Biggar
Dorothy Beatrice Christall Corby
💍 1923/9233

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Official
Domestic

23
21

Stoke (from Dannevirke)
Tahunanui

11 days
21 years

Methodist Church, Nelson

23/4770

13 June 1923

Rev. E. W. Hames, Methodist

No	50
Date of Notice	13 June 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John Biggar	Dorothy Beatrice Chrystall Corby
BDM Match (98%)	Walter John Biggar	Dorothy Beatrice Christall Corby
	💍 1923/9233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Official	Domestic
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Stoke (from Dannevirke)	Tahunanui
Length of Residence	11 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Nelson
Folio	23/4770
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. W. Hames, Methodist

19 June 1923

Eric Varley Rodley
Alice Pretoria Yarrow

Eric Varley Rodley
Alice Pretoria Yarrow
💍 1923/9234

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Waitress

26
23

Nelson
Nelson

15 years
12 months

Residence of Bridegroom's Parents, 124 Waimea St., Nelson

23/4771

19 June 1923

Rev. W. G. Carpenter, Church of Christ

No	51
Date of Notice	19 June 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Varley Rodley	Alice Pretoria Yarrow
	💍 1923/9234
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Waitress
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	15 years	12 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Bridegroom's Parents, 124 Waimea St., Nelson
Folio	23/4771
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 June 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Carpenter, Church of Christ

25 June 1923

James William Gribble
Una Janet Stratford

James William Gribble
Una Janet Stratford
💍 1923/9235

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist
Domestic

25
24

Stoke
Hope

25 years
24 years

Residence of Bride's Parents, Hope

23/4772

25 June 1923

Rev. J. R. Nelson, Methodist

No	52
Date of Notice	25 June 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Gribble	Una Janet Stratford
	💍 1923/9235
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Stoke	Hope
Length of Residence	25 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Parents, Hope
Folio	23/4772
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Nelson, Methodist

25 June 1923

Berkley Royds Stafford
Kathleen Maud Irene Stewart

Berkley Royds Stafford
Kathleen Maud Irene Stewart
💍 1923/9236

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
26

Nelson
Wakapuaka

4 years
26 years

Presbyterian Church, Nelson

23/4773

25 June 1923

Rev. James McNeill, Presbyterian

No	53
Date of Notice	25 June 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Berkley Royds Stafford	Kathleen Maud Irene Stewart
	💍 1923/9236
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Wakapuaka
Length of Residence	4 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Nelson
Folio	23/4773
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. James McNeill, Presbyterian

25 June 1923

Samuel Isaac L'Estrange Tyrrell-Baxter
Valerie Louisa Winter

Samuel Isaac L'Estrange Tyrrell-Baxter
Valerie Louisa Winter
💍 1923/9237

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

26
24

Nelson (from Christchurch)
Nelson

3 days
24 years

Church of Christ, Nelson

23/4774

25 June 1923

Rev. W. G. Carpenter, Church of Christ

No	54
Date of Notice	25 June 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Isaac L'Estrange Tyrrell-Baxter	Valerie Louisa Winter
	💍 1923/9237
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson (from Christchurch)	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Nelson
Folio	23/4774
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Carpenter, Church of Christ

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).