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 2479

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

221

19 March 1924

Basil Sadler
Dora Evelyn Dearoll

Basil Sadler Radcliffe
Dora Elsie Evelyn Deavoll
💍 1924/321

Bachelor
Spinster

No occupation

26
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
3 years

St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

635

19 March 1924

C. E. Perry, Anglican

No	221
Date of Notice	19 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Basil Sadler	Dora Evelyn Dearoll
BDM Match (63%)	Basil Sadler Radcliffe	Dora Elsie Evelyn Deavoll
	💍 1924/321
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	No occupation
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	635
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1924
Officiating Minister	C. E. Perry, Anglican

222

19 March 1924

Frederick Herbert Johnson
Ethel Margaret Nelson

Frederick Herbert Johnson
Ethel Margaret Shatford
💍 1924/300

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot Operator

34
28

Sydenham
Linwood

3 years
2 years

Residence of J. Thatford, 457 Cashel Street, Linwood

636

19 March 1924

T. G. Puckett, Methodist

No	222
Date of Notice	19 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Herbert Johnson	Ethel Margaret Nelson
BDM Match (85%)	Frederick Herbert Johnson	Ethel Margaret Shatford
	💍 1924/300
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot Operator
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. Thatford, 457 Cashel Street, Linwood
Folio	636
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1924
Officiating Minister	T. G. Puckett, Methodist

223

20 March 1924

Hilary Derrick Smith
Anne Myrtle Prime

Hilary Derrick Smith
Anne Myrtle Prime
💍 1924/308

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
2 years

St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

644

20 March 1924

F. N. Taylor, Anglican

No	223
Date of Notice	20 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hilary Derrick Smith	Anne Myrtle Prime
	💍 1924/308
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	644
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1924
Officiating Minister	F. N. Taylor, Anglican

224

20 March 1924

William George Prebble
Reine Victoria Gordon

William George Prebble
Reine Victoria Gordon
💍 1924/10298

Bachelor
Divorced

Sawmill Machinist

41
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

41 years
6 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

2447

20 March 1924

Deputy Registrar

No	224
Date of Notice	20 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Prebble	Reine Victoria Gordon
	💍 1924/10298
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Sawmill Machinist
Age	41	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	41 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	2447
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1924
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

225

21 March 1924

Norman Everest Dury
Matilda Woods

Norman Everest Durey
Matilda Woods
💍 1924/8360

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
22

Harewood
Springston South

2 years
7 years

Presbyterian Church, Lincoln

637

21 March 1924

J. C. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	225
Date of Notice	21 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Everest Dury	Matilda Woods
BDM Match (98%)	Norman Everest Durey	Matilda Woods
	💍 1924/8360
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Harewood	Springston South
Length of Residence	2 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Lincoln
Folio	637
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1924
Officiating Minister	J. C. Paterson, 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).