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 2549

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1924 Registrar Not specified

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

568

10 July 1924

John Fitzgerald
Louise Mary Intire

John Pitcaithly
Louise Mary Tuthill
💍 1924/4216

Widower
Widow

Dentist

45
42

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
6 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

5767

10 July 1924

Registrar

No	568
Date of Notice	10 July 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Fitzgerald	Louise Mary Intire
BDM Match (64%)	John Pitcaithly	Louise Mary Tuthill
	💍 1924/4216
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Dentist
Age	45	42
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	5767
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1924
Officiating Minister	Registrar

569

10 July 1924

Edgar Williams
Daisy Kettlewell

Edgar Williams
Daisy Kettlewell
💍 1924/4217

Bachelor
Widow

Railway Porter

26
34

Linwood
Christchurch

12 years
3 years

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

5768

10 July 1924

Rev. J. D. Webster, Presbyterian

No	569
Date of Notice	10 July 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Williams	Daisy Kettlewell
	💍 1924/4217
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Railway Porter
Age	26	34
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	5768
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Webster, Presbyterian

570

10 July 1924

Francis James McVey
Janet Evelyn Whitter

Francis James McVey
Janet Evelyn Miller
💍 1924/5924

Bachelor
Spinster

Leather Worker

31
28

St. Albans
Chronside

3 years
3 years

Holy Trinity Church, Chronside

7759

10 July 1924

Rev. G. Fitzgerald, Anglican

No	570
Date of Notice	10 July 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis James McVey	Janet Evelyn Whitter
BDM Match (90%)	Francis James McVey	Janet Evelyn Miller
	💍 1924/5924
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Leather Worker
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Chronside
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Chronside
Folio	7759
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Fitzgerald, Anglican

571

10 July 1924

Frederick William Dennett
Edith Payne

Frederick William Derrett
Edith Payn
💍 1924/4218

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

43
39

New Brighton
New Brighton

1 week
6 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

5769

10 July 1924

Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

No	571
Date of Notice	10 July 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Dennett	Edith Payne
BDM Match (91%)	Frederick William Derrett	Edith Payn
	💍 1924/4218
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	43	39
Dwelling Place	New Brighton	New Brighton
Length of Residence	1 week	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	5769
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

572

11 July 1924

Arthur Cyril Hansen
Ethel Dorothy Clarke

Arthur Cyril Hansen
Ethel Dorothy Clarke
💍 1924/5925

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist

24
25

Sydenham
Cashmere

Life
Life

Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch

7760

11 July 1924

Rev. W. D. Moore, Church of Christ

No	572
Date of Notice	11 July 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Cyril Hansen	Ethel Dorothy Clarke
	💍 1924/5925
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Cashmere
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	7760
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. D. Moore, Church of Christ

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).