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 2164

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 September 1923 Registrar N. M. Chesney

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

30 August 1923

William Henry Corbett
Ellinor Donaldson Craig

William Henry Corbett
Ellinor Donaldson Craig
💍 1923/4739

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Dressmaker

26
31

Spring Creek
Spring Creek

4 years
31 years

St Luke's Church, Spring Creek

23/7041

30 August 1923

Canon William Wollstein, Church of England

No	53
Date of Notice	30 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Corbett	Ellinor Donaldson Craig
	💍 1923/4739
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Dressmaker
Age	26	31
Dwelling Place	Spring Creek	Spring Creek
Length of Residence	4 years	31 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Church, Spring Creek
Folio	23/7041
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Canon William Wollstein, Church of England

28 August 1923

Ernest Leslie
Gertrude Alice Blick

Ernest Leslie
Gertrude Alice Blick
💍 1923/4740

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

43
26

Springlands
Springlands

43 years
26 years

Methodist Church, Springlands

23/7042

28 August 1923

Rev. William Greenslade, Methodist

No	54
Date of Notice	28 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Leslie	Gertrude Alice Blick
	💍 1923/4740
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	43	26
Dwelling Place	Springlands	Springlands
Length of Residence	43 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Springlands
Folio	23/7042
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Greenslade, Methodist

29 August 1923

William John Quirk
Hester Elizabeth Mary Lewis

William John Quirk
Hester Elizabeth Mary Lewis
💍 1923/4741

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Dressmaker

32
26

Picton (usually Wanganui)
Picton

1 day
26 years

Roman Catholic Church, Picton

23/7043

29 August 1923

Rev. J. R. Holley, Roman Catholic

No	55
Date of Notice	29 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Quirk	Hester Elizabeth Mary Lewis
	💍 1923/4741
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Picton (usually Wanganui)	Picton
Length of Residence	1 day	26 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Picton
Folio	23/7043
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Holley, Roman Catholic

3 September 1923

Robert Henry Leslie
Ivy Susan Looms

Robert Henry Leslie
Ivy Susan Looms
💍 1923/4742

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

35
22

Okaramio
Okaramio

35 years
8 years

Presbyterian Church, Renwicktown

23/7044

3 September 1923

Caleb Brierly, Presbyterian

No	56
Date of Notice	3 September 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Leslie	Ivy Susan Looms
	💍 1923/4742
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Okaramio	Okaramio
Length of Residence	35 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Renwicktown
Folio	23/7044
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1923
Officiating Minister	Caleb Brierly, Presbyterian

20 September 1923

James Spencer White
Ivy Zilpha Thomas

James Spencer White
Ivy Zilpha Thomas
💍 1923/4744

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm hand
Domestic Duties

32
32

Tuamarina
Springlands, Blenheim

32 years
32 years

Methodist Church, Blenheim

23/7045

20 September 1923

Rev. William Greenslade, Methodist

No	57
Date of Notice	20 September 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Spencer White	Ivy Zilpha Thomas
	💍 1923/4744
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm hand	Domestic Duties
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Tuamarina	Springlands, Blenheim
Length of Residence	32 years	32 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Blenheim
Folio	23/7045
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 September 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Greenslade, 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).