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 2430

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

22 October 1924

Arnold William Argyle
Elsie Louise Penrose

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Shop Assistant

30
27

Ashburton
Ashburton

5 years
2 years

At the dwelling of John Argyle, Farm Road, Allenton

9940

John Argyle, father of minor

22 October 1924

A. Calcott, Adjutant, Salvation Army

No	79
Date of Notice	22 October 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arnold William Argyle	Elsie Louise Penrose
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Shop Assistant
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of John Argyle, Farm Road, Allenton
Folio	9940
Consent	John Argyle, father of minor
Date of Certificate	22 October 1924
Officiating Minister	A. Calcott, Adjutant, Salvation Army

23 October 1924

Thomas Archibald Ambrose
Thelma May Sherlock

Thomas Archibald Ambrose
Thelma May Sherlock
💍 1924/3211

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Saleswoman

30
19

Ashburton
Ashburton

6 weeks
3 weeks

Methodist Church, Ashburton

10285

George Sherlock, father of minor

23 October 1924

Rev. S. Henderson, Methodist

No	80
Date of Notice	23 October 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Archibald Ambrose	Thelma May Sherlock
	💍 1924/3211
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Saleswoman
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	6 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Ashburton
Folio	10285
Consent	George Sherlock, father of minor
Date of Certificate	23 October 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson, Methodist

28 October 1924

William Cuthbertson
Letty Tottie Eagle

William Cuthbertson
Tottie Eagle Clinch
💍 1924/7762

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
domestic duties

34
18

Ashburton
Ashburton

9 months
6 months

St Stephens Church, Ashburton

9941

W. G. Aspinall and B. E. Clinch, Guardians of minor

28 October 1924

Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

No	81
Date of Notice	28 October 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Cuthbertson	Letty Tottie Eagle
BDM Match (66%)	William Cuthbertson	Tottie Eagle Clinch
	💍 1924/7762
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	domestic duties
Age	34	18
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	9 months	6 months
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church, Ashburton
Folio	9941
Consent	W. G. Aspinall and B. E. Clinch, Guardians of minor
Date of Certificate	28 October 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

1 November 1924

John Ernest Dobbin
Florence Beatrice Buchanan

John Ernest Dobbin
Florence Beatrice Buchanan
💍 1924/7763

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

30
22

Ashburton
Ashburton

30 years
2 years

Office of the Registrar, Ashburton

9942

1 November 1924

W. W. White, Registrar

No	82
Date of Notice	1 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ernest Dobbin	Florence Beatrice Buchanan
	💍 1924/7763
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	30 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Ashburton
Folio	9942
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1924
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

4 November 1924

Robert Joseph Wilson McCarthy
Davinia Elizabeth Edmond

Robert Joseph Wilson McCarthy
Davinia Elizabeth Edmond
💍 1924/7764

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

31
27

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 days
3 days

Presbyterian Manse, Ashburton

9943

4 November 1924

Rev. A. G. Irvine, Presbyterian

No	83
Date of Notice	4 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Joseph Wilson McCarthy	Davinia Elizabeth Edmond
	💍 1924/7764
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Ashburton
Folio	9943
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. G. Irvine, 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).