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 2280

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

20 April 1923

Edward Andrew Horan
Dorothy Eileen Chappell

Edward Andrew Horan
Dorothy Eileen Chappell
💍 1923/9242

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant
Photographer

30
24

Blenheim
Nelson

3 months at Nelson
6 weeks

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Nelson

23/4756

20 April 1923

Rev. Father Campbell, Roman Catholic

No	35
Date of Notice	20 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Andrew Horan	Dorothy Eileen Chappell
	💍 1923/9242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant	Photographer
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 months at Nelson	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Nelson
Folio	23/4756
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Campbell, Roman Catholic

20 April 1923

John Malcolm Stringer
Candia Illion Barrett

John Malcolm Stringer
Cardia Illion Barrett
💍 1923/9243

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Typiste

31
21

Nelson
Nelson

31 years
10 years

St. Andrews Church of England, Wakapuaka

23/4757

20 April 1923

Rev. Heron, Church of England

No	36
Date of Notice	20 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Malcolm Stringer	Candia Illion Barrett
BDM Match (98%)	John Malcolm Stringer	Cardia Illion Barrett
	💍 1923/9243
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Typiste
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	31 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church of England, Wakapuaka
Folio	23/4757
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Heron, Church of England

30 April 1923

Richard Henry Climo
Lily Marie Ann Francis Matilda Dore

Richard Henry Climo
Lily Marie Ann Francis Matilda Dore
💍 1923/9244

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Dressmaker

25
27

Nelson
Tahunanui, Nelson

3 years
5 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

23/4758

30 April 1923

W. M. Egglestone, Registrar

No	37
Date of Notice	30 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Henry Climo	Lily Marie Ann Francis Matilda Dore
	💍 1923/9244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Dressmaker
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Tahunanui, Nelson
Length of Residence	3 years	5 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	23/4758
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1923
Officiating Minister	W. M. Egglestone, Registrar

2 May 1923

John Herbert Clelland
Mona Quayle

John Herbert Clelland
Mona Quayle
💍 1923/9245

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

27
18

Nelson (from Maconan Canterbury)
Nelson (from Motueka)

3 days
10 days

All Saints' Church, Nelson

23/4759

David Griffiths, guardian

2 May 1923

Rev. Pring-Rowe, Church of England

No	38
Date of Notice	2 May 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Herbert Clelland	Mona Quayle
	💍 1923/9245
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Nelson (from Maconan Canterbury)	Nelson (from Motueka)
Length of Residence	3 days	10 days
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church, Nelson
Folio	23/4759
Consent	David Griffiths, guardian
Date of Certificate	2 May 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Pring-Rowe, Church of England

7 May 1923

Arthur Russel Stagg
Joy Myrtle Goodman

Arthur Russel Stagg
Ivy Myrtle Goodman
💍 1923/9693

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

19
17

Tahunanui
Tahunanui

3 years
8 years

Residence of Mr. McRae, Tahunanui

23/5311

Andrew Stagg (father), Charles Leonard Goodman (father)

7 May 1923

Rev. Rogers, Church of England

No	39
Date of Notice	7 May 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Russel Stagg	Joy Myrtle Goodman
BDM Match (94%)	Arthur Russel Stagg	Ivy Myrtle Goodman
	💍 1923/9693
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	19	17
Dwelling Place	Tahunanui	Tahunanui
Length of Residence	3 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. McRae, Tahunanui
Folio	23/5311
Consent	Andrew Stagg (father), Charles Leonard Goodman (father)
Date of Certificate	7 May 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Rogers, Church of England

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).