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 2469

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1924

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

171

6 March 1924

John Harold Chattison
Winifred Eva Gertrude Graham

John Harold Mattison
Winifred Eva Gertrude Graham
💍 1924/8250

Widower
Spinster

Baker

33
28

Richmond
New Brighton

3 years
5 years

Residence of Rev. J. Paterson, 120 Rolleston Street, Linwood

592

6 March 1924

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	171
Date of Notice	6 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Harold Chattison	Winifred Eva Gertrude Graham
BDM Match (95%)	John Harold Mattison	Winifred Eva Gertrude Graham
	💍 1924/8250
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Richmond	New Brighton
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. J. Paterson, 120 Rolleston Street, Linwood
Folio	592
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

172

6 March 1924

Charles William Reader
Elsie Gladys Bennett

Charles William Reader
Elsie Gladys Bennett
💍 1924/8252

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist

26
24

Sydenham
Sydenham

14 years
4 years

Residence of Rev. C. Reader, 36 Coleridge Street, Sydenham

593

6 March 1924

P. B. Paris, Methodist

No	172
Date of Notice	6 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Reader	Elsie Gladys Bennett
	💍 1924/8252
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	14 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. C. Reader, 36 Coleridge Street, Sydenham
Folio	593
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1924
Officiating Minister	P. B. Paris, Methodist

173

5 March 1924

Richard John Potter
Fanny Eliza Dunkmanton

Richard John Potter
Fanny Eliza Duckmanton
💍 1924/8253

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

34
30

Richmond
Linwood

27 years
Life

Residence of C. Aworth, 83 Aldwins Road, Linwood

594

5 March 1924

W. Tanner, Presbyterian

No	173
Date of Notice	5 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard John Potter	Fanny Eliza Dunkmanton
BDM Match (98%)	Richard John Potter	Fanny Eliza Duckmanton
	💍 1924/8253
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Linwood
Length of Residence	27 years	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of C. Aworth, 83 Aldwins Road, Linwood
Folio	594
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1924
Officiating Minister	W. Tanner, Presbyterian

174

5 March 1924

Arthur Douglas Fabian
Pearl Eileen Burbury

Arthur Douglas Fabian
Pearl Eileen Burbury
💍 1924/8254

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant

26
22

Christchurch
Linwood

26 years
6 months

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

595

5 March 1924

C. G. Mutter, Anglican

No	174
Date of Notice	5 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Douglas Fabian	Pearl Eileen Burbury
	💍 1924/8254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	26 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	595
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1924
Officiating Minister	C. G. Mutter, Anglican

175

6 March 1924

Ivan Henry Ashby Smith
Kathleen Byrne

Ivan Henry Ashley Smith
Kathleen Byrne
💍 1924/8255

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter Decorator

19
21

Richmond
Linwood

15 years
4 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

596

Henry Albert Smith, Father

6 March 1924

Deputy Registrar

No	175
Date of Notice	6 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ivan Henry Ashby Smith	Kathleen Byrne
BDM Match (96%)	Ivan Henry Ashley Smith	Kathleen Byrne
	💍 1924/8255
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter Decorator
Age	19	21
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Linwood
Length of Residence	15 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	596
Consent	Henry Albert Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	6 March 1924
Officiating Minister	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).