Intentions to Marry, 1924 Kaikoura to Christchurch

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840525, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1924 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.

1924f contains pages 2129-2646, covering districts from Kaikoura to Christchurch

Page 2301

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 1924 Registrar W. M. Muncies

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

12 November 1924

Edward Francis Sexton
Winnifred Ellen Avelyn Taylor

Edward Francis Sexton
Winnifred Ellen Austyn Taylor
💍 1924/7437

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Domestic Duties

22
17

Nelson
Nelson

1 year
3 years

Methodist Church at Nelson

9876

Ellen Ann Taylor, mother

12 November 1924

Rev. H. L. Blamires, Methodist

No	88
Date of Notice	12 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Francis Sexton	Winnifred Ellen Avelyn Taylor
BDM Match (95%)	Edward Francis Sexton	Winnifred Ellen Austyn Taylor
	💍 1924/7437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Domestic Duties
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	1 year	3 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church at Nelson
Folio	9876
Consent	Ellen Ann Taylor, mother
Date of Certificate	12 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. L. Blamires, Methodist

18 November 1924

Gilbert William Wilkes
Rose Hannah Dayman

Gilbert William Wilkes
Rose Hannah Dayman
💍 1924/7448

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic Duties

31
24

Richmond
Port Nelson

31 years
24 years

Church of England Cathedral at Nelson

9877

18 November 1924

Rev. C. V. Askew, Church of England

No	89
Date of Notice	18 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert William Wilkes	Rose Hannah Dayman
	💍 1924/7448
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic Duties
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Port Nelson
Length of Residence	31 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Cathedral at Nelson
Folio	9877
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. V. Askew, Church of England

19 November 1924

George Vincent Edmonds
Ethel Mills

George Vincent Edmonds
Ethel Mills
💍 1924/7455

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Shop Assistant

29
25

Nelson
Nelson

14 months
8 years

Baptist Church at Nelson

9878

19 November 1924

Rev. John Laird, Baptist

No	90
Date of Notice	19 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Vincent Edmonds	Ethel Mills
	💍 1924/7455
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Shop Assistant
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	14 months	8 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church at Nelson
Folio	9878
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Laird, Baptist

24 November 1924

Alfred James Hellew
Elizabeth McLean

Alfred James Pellew
Elizabeth McLean
💍 1924/7456

Bachelor
Widow

Builder
Domestic Duties

41
42

Nelson
Nelson

41 years
9 years

127 Waimea Street, Nelson

9879

24 November 1924

Rev. James Mc Neill, Presbyterian

No	91
Date of Notice	24 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James Hellew	Elizabeth McLean
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred James Pellew	Elizabeth McLean
	💍 1924/7456
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Builder	Domestic Duties
Age	41	42
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	41 years	9 years
Marriage Place	127 Waimea Street, Nelson
Folio	9879
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Mc Neill, Presbyterian

29 November 1924

William Hodgkinson
Margaret Blackwood Walker

William Hodgkinson
Margaret Blackwood Walker
💍 1924/7457

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
28

Nelson
Nelson

5 days
5 days

Private residence of Mrs. Oram, Weka Street, Nelson

9880

29 November 1924

Rev. James Mc Neill, Presbyterian

No	92
Date of Notice	29 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hodgkinson	Margaret Blackwood Walker
	💍 1924/7457
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Private residence of Mrs. Oram, Weka Street, Nelson
Folio	9880
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Mc Neill, Presbyterian

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).