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 2286

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1923 Registrar Wm. Eggleton

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

24 July 1923

James Howie Brownlie
Olive Myrtle Cummings

James Howie Brownlie
Olive Myrtle Cummings
💍 1923/4801

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway shunter
Domestic

26
24

Nelson
Nelson

4 days
24 years

Church of England Cathedral, Nelson

7079

24 July 1923

Rev. Askew, Church of England

No	61
Date of Notice	24 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Howie Brownlie	Olive Myrtle Cummings
	💍 1923/4801
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway shunter	Domestic
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	7079
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Askew, Church of England

26 July 1923

Edward Joseph Marbrook
Linda Maria Hely McDonald

Edward Joseph Marbrook
Linda Maria Hely McDonald
💍 1923/4802

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Clerk

24
22

Nelson
Nelson

9 days
9 days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages at Nelson

7080

26 July 1923

W. M. Eggleton, Registrar

No	62
Date of Notice	26 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Joseph Marbrook	Linda Maria Hely McDonald
	💍 1923/4802
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Clerk
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	9 days	9 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages at Nelson
Folio	7080
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1923
Officiating Minister	W. M. Eggleton, Registrar

27 July 1923

Kenneth Kimberley Heale
Charlotte Ruby Simmons

Kenneth Kimberley Neale
Charlotte Ruby Simmons
💍 1923/4803

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor mechanic
Domestic

23
22

Nelson
Nelson

23 years
7 years

All Saints Church at Nelson

7081

27 July 1923

Rev. Pring-Rowe, Church of England

No	63
Date of Notice	27 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth Kimberley Heale	Charlotte Ruby Simmons
BDM Match (98%)	Kenneth Kimberley Neale	Charlotte Ruby Simmons
	💍 1923/4803
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor mechanic	Domestic
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	23 years	7 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church at Nelson
Folio	7081
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Pring-Rowe, Church of England

30 July 1923

George Cyril Jennens
Robina Campbell Preston

George Cyril Jennens
Robina Campbell Preston
💍 1923/4804

Widower (5-1-20)
Widow (31-10-16)

Plumber
Domestic Duties

30
35

Nelson
Nelson

30 years
19 months

Church of England Cathedral, Nelson

7082

30 July 1923

Rev. Askew, Church of England

No	64
Date of Notice	30 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Cyril Jennens	Robina Campbell Preston
	💍 1923/4804
Condition	Widower (5-1-20)	Widow (31-10-16)
Profession	Plumber	Domestic Duties
Age	30	35
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	30 years	19 months
Marriage Place	Church of England Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	7082
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Askew, Church of England

30 July 1923

Frederick Gustaf Janson
Jessie Graham

Frederick Gustaf Janson
Jessie Graham
💍 1923/4805

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Domestic Duties

42
31

Nelson
Nelson

1 day
31 years

Methodist Church, Nelson

7083

30 July 1923

Rev. Hames, Methodist

No	65
Date of Notice	30 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Gustaf Janson	Jessie Graham
	💍 1923/4805
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Domestic Duties
Age	42	31
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	1 day	31 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Nelson
Folio	7083
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Hames, 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).