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 2565

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1923

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

647

12 July 1923

William McCracken
Eleanor Ruth Bennett

William McCracken
Eleanor Ruth Bennett
💍 1923/3635

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

38
38

Sydenham
Sydenham

Life
3 years

St. Mary's Church, Addington

5960

12 July 1923

W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	647
Date of Notice	12 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McCracken	Eleanor Ruth Bennett
	💍 1923/3635
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	38	38
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	Life	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	5960
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1923
Officiating Minister	W. S. Bean, Anglican

648

12 July 1923

Edward John Ebert
Ethel Olive Collie

Edward John Ebert
Ethel Olive Colee
💍 1923/3636

Bachelor
Spinster

Tractor Driver

22
20

Christchurch
Riccarton

3 days
3 days

Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

5961

12 July 1923

A. J. Goring, Baptist

No	648
Date of Notice	12 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Ebert	Ethel Olive Collie
BDM Match (94%)	Edward John Ebert	Ethel Olive Colee
	💍 1923/3636
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tractor Driver
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	5961
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1923
Officiating Minister	A. J. Goring, Baptist

649

13 July 1923

Joseph Hammond
Isabella Rind

Joseph Hammond
Isabella Rhind
💍 1923/3637

Bachelor
Widow

Weaver

58
46

Addington
Addington

10 months
Life

Residence of C. J. Hammond, 7 Park Road, Addington

5962

Residence of C. J. Hammond

13 July 1923

W. D. Moore, Church of Christ

No	649
Date of Notice	13 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Hammond	Isabella Rind
BDM Match (96%)	Joseph Hammond	Isabella Rhind
	💍 1923/3637
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Weaver
Age	58	46
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	10 months	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of C. J. Hammond, 7 Park Road, Addington
Folio	5962
Consent	Residence of C. J. Hammond
Date of Certificate	13 July 1923
Officiating Minister	W. D. Moore, Church of Christ

650

13 July 1923

Victor Cecil McPtait
Gladys Frances McAdam

Victor Cecil McPhail
Gladys Francis McAdam Baker
💍 1923/3638

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Clerk

23
22

Christchurch
Rakaia

Life
5 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch

5963

13 July 1923

D. Halvey, Roman Catholic

No	650
Date of Notice	13 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Cecil McPtait	Gladys Frances McAdam
BDM Match (82%)	Victor Cecil McPhail	Gladys Francis McAdam Baker
	💍 1923/3638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Clerk
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Rakaia
Length of Residence	Life	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch
Folio	5963
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1923
Officiating Minister	D. Halvey, Roman Catholic

651

14 July 1923

Cecil William Jones
Margaret Mary Sullivan

Cecil William Jones
Margaret Mary Sullivan
💍 1923/3639

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

30
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 weeks
2 weeks

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch

5964

14 July 1923

D. Lordan, Roman Catholic

No	651
Date of Notice	14 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil William Jones	Margaret Mary Sullivan
	💍 1923/3639
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch
Folio	5964
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1923
Officiating Minister	D. Lordan, Roman 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).