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 2431

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 December 1924 Registrar W. W. White

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

13 November 1924

Arthur Ernest Lovett
Sarah Ann Beach

Arthur Ernest Lovett
Sarah Ann Beach
💍 1924/7765

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm labourer
domestic duties

35
35

Ashburton
Ashburton

32 years
32 years

Methodist Church, Willowby

9944

13 November 1924

Rev. W. J. Enticott, Methodist

No	84
Date of Notice	13 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ernest Lovett	Sarah Ann Beach
	💍 1924/7765
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm labourer	domestic duties
Age	35	35
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	32 years	32 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Willowby
Folio	9944
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Enticott, Methodist

17 November 1924

John Stanley Clarke
Ella Lilian Paterson

John Stanley Clarke
Ella Le Leau Paterson
💍 1924/7766

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrical linesman
domestic duties

29
33

Ashburton
Ashburton

29 years
33 years

Presbyterian Church, Mayfield

9945

17 November 1924

Rev. A. W. Tully, B.A., Presbyterian

No	85
Date of Notice	17 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stanley Clarke	Ella Lilian Paterson
BDM Match (88%)	John Stanley Clarke	Ella Le Leau Paterson
	💍 1924/7766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrical linesman	domestic duties
Age	29	33
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	29 years	33 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Mayfield
Folio	9945
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Tully, B.A., Presbyterian

17 November 1924

Eric Bruce Baker
Avastesia Bradley

Eric Bruce Baker
Anastasia Bradley
💍 1924/7768

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Clerk

33
26

Ashburton
Ashburton

1 year
26 years

Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton

9946

17 November 1924

Very Rev. J. J. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

No	86
Date of Notice	17 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Bruce Baker	Avastesia Bradley
BDM Match (94%)	Eric Bruce Baker	Anastasia Bradley
	💍 1924/7768
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Clerk
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	1 year	26 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton
Folio	9946
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. J. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

18 November 1924

Stanley Frederick Roberts Scott
Marion Shaup

Stanley Frederick Roberts Scott
Marion Phaup
💍 1924/7769

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
nurse

24
28

Ashburton
Ashburton

10 years
28 years

Methodist Church, Ashburton

9947

18 November 1924

Rev. F. W. Kealie, Methodist

No	87
Date of Notice	18 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Frederick Roberts Scott	Marion Shaup
BDM Match (96%)	Stanley Frederick Roberts Scott	Marion Phaup
	💍 1924/7769
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	nurse
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	10 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Ashburton
Folio	9947
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Kealie, Methodist

19 November 1924

Henry Robert Hewson
Frances Amelia Wacker

Henry Robert Hewron
Frances Amelia Walker
💍 1924/7770

Widower, 5 Jany 1913
Widow, 24 Nov 1918

Stock Agent
domestic duties

47
37

Ashburton
Ashburton

8 years
50 years

St Stephens Church of England, Ashburton

9948

19 November 1924

Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

No	88
Date of Notice	19 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Robert Hewson	Frances Amelia Wacker
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Robert Hewron	Frances Amelia Walker
	💍 1924/7770
Condition	Widower, 5 Jany 1913	Widow, 24 Nov 1918
Profession	Stock Agent	domestic duties
Age	47	37
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	8 years	50 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	9948
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Wiseman, 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).