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 2162

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

24 July 1923

Frank Edward Stade
Vivien Ann Atkins

Frank Edward Stade
Vivien Ann Atkins
💍 1923/4753

Divorced (Decree Absolute 28.3.1923)
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

37
27

Blenheim
Blenheim

7 months
7 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

23/7031

24 July 1923

Mr. N. M. Chesney, Registrar

No	43
Date of Notice	24 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Edward Stade	Vivien Ann Atkins
	💍 1923/4753
Condition	Divorced (Decree Absolute 28.3.1923)	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	37	27
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	7 months	7 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim
Folio	23/7031
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Mr. N. M. Chesney, Registrar

30 July 1923

Walter Baden Powell Saunders
Muriel Blanche Ward Stretch

Walter Baden Powell Saunders
Muriel Blanche Ward Stretch
💍 1923/4754

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Domestic Duties

23
20

Picton
Grovetown

2 years
7 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

23/7032

Amy Harnett, Mother

30 July 1923

Ven Arch G. W. York, Church of England

No	44
Date of Notice	30 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Baden Powell Saunders	Muriel Blanche Ward Stretch
	💍 1923/4754
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Domestic Duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Picton	Grovetown
Length of Residence	2 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	23/7032
Consent	Amy Harnett, Mother
Date of Certificate	30 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Ven Arch G. W. York, Church of England

27 July 1923

Clarence Leigh Pickering
Olive Monro

Clarence Leigh Pickering
Olive Monro
💍 1923/4755

Bachelor
Widow (6.7.1918)

Labourer
Domestic Duties

29
31

Blenheim
Blenheim

2 days
6 months

Residence of William Officer Robb, Henry Street, Blenheim

23/7033

27 July 1923

Rev W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	45
Date of Notice	27 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Leigh Pickering	Olive Monro
	💍 1923/4755
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (6.7.1918)
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	2 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of William Officer Robb, Henry Street, Blenheim
Folio	23/7033
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

2 August 1923

James Alfred Barr
Rubina Winifred Elsmore

James Alfred Barr
Rubina Winifred Elsmore
💍 1923/4756

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

38
18

Grovetown
Grovetown

3 years
18 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

23/7034

Edwin Davey Elsmore, Father

2 August 1923

Mr. C. F. Shapcott, Deputy Registrar

No	46
Date of Notice	2 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alfred Barr	Rubina Winifred Elsmore
	💍 1923/4756
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	38	18
Dwelling Place	Grovetown	Grovetown
Length of Residence	3 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim
Folio	23/7034
Consent	Edwin Davey Elsmore, Father
Date of Certificate	2 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Mr. C. F. Shapcott, Deputy Registrar

2 August 1923

Cuthbert John Shaw
Jean Fordyce Wemyss

Cuthbert John Shaw
Jean Fordyce Wemyss
💍 1923/4733

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist
Domestic Duties

28
28

Renwicktown
Renwicktown

28 years
28 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

23/7035

2 August 1923

Mr. C. F. Shapcott, Deputy Registrar

No	47
Date of Notice	2 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cuthbert John Shaw	Jean Fordyce Wemyss
	💍 1923/4733
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist	Domestic Duties
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	28 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim
Folio	23/7035
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Mr. C. F. Shapcott, Deputy Registrar

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).