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 2274

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1923 Registrar W. M. L. Eggleston

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

29 January 1923

Albert Roy Schon
Evelyn Louisa Elizabeth Hogg

Albert Roy Schon
Evelyn Louisa Elizabeth Hogg
💍 1923/2481

Bachelor
Spinster

Tram Conductor
Domestic Duties

24
21

Nelson (from Wellington)
Nelson (from Wellington)

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Nelson

23/2199

29 January 1923

Registrar of marriages, Nelson

No	6
Date of Notice	29 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Roy Schon	Evelyn Louisa Elizabeth Hogg
	💍 1923/2481
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tram Conductor	Domestic Duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson (from Wellington)	Nelson (from Wellington)
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Nelson
Folio	23/2199
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Registrar of marriages, Nelson

2 February 1923

Alexander Wilson
Edith Alison Woodward

Alexander Wilson
Edith Alison Woodward
💍 1923/2482

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Domestic Duties

38
20

Custom House, Port Nelson
53 Milton Street, Nelson

about 10 years
20 years

St Marys Roman Catholic Church, Nelson

23/2200

Edward Woodward, Father

2 February 1923

Rev. Hoare, Roman Catholic Church

No	7
Date of Notice	2 February 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Wilson	Edith Alison Woodward
	💍 1923/2482
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Domestic Duties
Age	38	20
Dwelling Place	Custom House, Port Nelson	53 Milton Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	about 10 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St Marys Roman Catholic Church, Nelson
Folio	23/2200
Consent	Edward Woodward, Father
Date of Certificate	2 February 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Hoare, Roman Catholic Church

5 February 1923

Albert Edward Victor Woolf
Melodie Amanda Winter

Albert Edward Victor Woolf
Melodie Amanda Winter
💍 1923/2539

Bachelor
Spinster

Attendant Mental Hospital
Factory Hand

27
20

Nelson
Nelson

20 years
7 years

All Saints' Church

23/2201

Arthur Winter, Father

5 February 1923

Rev. Pring Rowe, Church of England

No	8
Date of Notice	5 February 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Victor Woolf	Melodie Amanda Winter
	💍 1923/2539
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Attendant Mental Hospital	Factory Hand
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	20 years	7 years
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church
Folio	23/2201
Consent	Arthur Winter, Father
Date of Certificate	5 February 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Pring Rowe, Church of England

6 February 1923

Frederick Atkinson
Sybil Adele Marjorie Roughton

Frederick Atkinson
Sybil Adele Marjorie Roughton
💍 1923/2550

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Saleswoman

27
22

Nelson
Nelson

27 years
22 years

St Marys Roman Catholic Church, Nelson

23/2202

6 February 1923

Rev. Father Campbell, Roman Catholic Church

No	9
Date of Notice	6 February 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Atkinson	Sybil Adele Marjorie Roughton
	💍 1923/2550
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Saleswoman
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	27 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St Marys Roman Catholic Church, Nelson
Folio	23/2202
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Campbell, Roman Catholic Church

8 February 1923

John Cotter Tangye
Norah Harriett Russell

John Cotter Tangye
Norah Harriett Russell
💍 1923/2557

Bachelor
Widow (11-11-1918)

Confectioner
Domestic

42
34

Nelson
Nelson

12 months
10 months

Registrar's Office, Nelson

23/2203

8 February 1923

Registrar of marriages, Nelson

No	10
Date of Notice	8 February 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cotter Tangye	Norah Harriett Russell
	💍 1923/2557
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (11-11-1918)
Profession	Confectioner	Domestic
Age	42	34
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	12 months	10 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Nelson
Folio	23/2203
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1923
Officiating Minister	Registrar of marriages, Nelson

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).