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 2418

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 March 1924 Registrar L. J. Fowke

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

4 March 1924

Charles Henry Jones
Dulce Kennin Patten

Charles Henry Jones
Dolce Kenmir Patten
💍 1924/10120

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Clerk

28
21

Ashburton
Ashburton

1 week
2 weeks

Office of the Registrar, Ashburton

2143

7 March 1924

W. W. White, Registrar

No	26
Date of Notice	4 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Jones	Dulce Kennin Patten
BDM Match (92%)	Charles Henry Jones	Dolce Kenmir Patten
	💍 1924/10120
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Clerk
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	1 week	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Ashburton
Folio	2143
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1924
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

8 March 1924

Price William Wright
Lucy Jane Fountaine

Vince William Wright
Lucy Jane Fountaine
💍 1924/10121

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Shop Assistant

28
24

Ashburton
Ashburton

2 years
24 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

2144

8 March 1924

Rev. A. S. Morrison, Presbyterian

No	27
Date of Notice	8 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Price William Wright	Lucy Jane Fountaine
BDM Match (93%)	Vince William Wright	Lucy Jane Fountaine
	💍 1924/10121
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Shop Assistant
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	2 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	2144
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. S. Morrison, Presbyterian

11 March 1924

David George Francis Ferris
Madge Mona May Keig

David George Francis Terris
Madge Mona May Keig
💍 1924/10123

Bachelor
Spinster

Designer
Domestic duties

20
18

Ashburton
Ashburton

30 years
6 years

The dwelling of Ernest Keig, Kermode Street, Ashburton

2145

Alice May Ferris, mother of minor; Ernest Keig, father of minor

11 March 1924

Rev. W. Marshall, Presbyterian

No	28
Date of Notice	11 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David George Francis Ferris	Madge Mona May Keig
BDM Match (98%)	David George Francis Terris	Madge Mona May Keig
	💍 1924/10123
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Designer	Domestic duties
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	30 years	6 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling of Ernest Keig, Kermode Street, Ashburton
Folio	2145
Consent	Alice May Ferris, mother of minor; Ernest Keig, father of minor
Date of Certificate	11 March 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Marshall, Presbyterian

14 March 1924

Leslie Hosken
Loralie Ruby Hunt

Leslie Hosken
Coralie Ruby Hunt
💍 1924/10124

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

29
21

Ashburton
Ashburton

34 years
8 years

St Stephens Church, Ashburton

2146

14 March 1924

Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

No	29
Date of Notice	14 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Hosken	Loralie Ruby Hunt
BDM Match (97%)	Leslie Hosken	Coralie Ruby Hunt
	💍 1924/10124
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	34 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church, Ashburton
Folio	2146
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

21 March 1924

William Archie Mauchlan
Ellen McKee

William Archie McLauchlan
Ellen McKee
💍 1924/10125

Bachelor
Spinster

Teamster
Domestic duties

22
22

Ashburton
Ashburton

5 years
32 years

Presbyterian Church, Chertsey

2147

21 March 1924

Rev. A. S. Morrison, Presbyterian

No	30
Date of Notice	21 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Archie Mauchlan	Ellen McKee
BDM Match (96%)	William Archie McLauchlan	Ellen McKee
	💍 1924/10125
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teamster	Domestic duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 years	32 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Chertsey
Folio	2147
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. S. Morrison, Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).