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 2416

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 March 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

15 February 1924

George Hamilton Lamb
Hazel Ophir Brown

George Hamilton Lamb
Hazel Ophie Brown
💍 1924/10133

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

22
22

Ashburton
Ashburton

10 years
22 years

Presbyterian Church, Mayfield

2133

15 February 1924

Rev. J. Johnston, Presbyterian

No	16
Date of Notice	15 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hamilton Lamb	Hazel Ophir Brown
BDM Match (97%)	George Hamilton Lamb	Hazel Ophie Brown
	💍 1924/10133
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	10 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Mayfield
Folio	2133
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Johnston, Presbyterian

14 February 1924

William Joseph Collins
Dorothy Edna Nicholls

William Joseph Collins
Dorothy Edna Nicholls
💍 1924/10134

Bachelor
Spinster

Oil colour merchant
Teacher

36
16

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 years
16 years

St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton

2134

Francis George Nicholls, father of minor

14 February 1924

Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	14 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Joseph Collins	Dorothy Edna Nicholls
	💍 1924/10134
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Oil colour merchant	Teacher
Age	36	16
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	2134
Consent	Francis George Nicholls, father of minor
Date of Certificate	14 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

15 February 1924

Abel Kormode
Lovaline May Drummond

Abel Kermode
Evaline May Drummond
💍 1924/10112

Bachelor
Spinster

Salvation Army Officer
Salvation Army Officer

35
24

Ashburton
Ashburton

5 days
14 days

Salvation Army Hall, Ashburton

2135

15 February 1924

A. B. Carmichael, Lieutenant Colonel S.A.

No	18
Date of Notice	15 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Abel Kormode	Lovaline May Drummond
BDM Match (91%)	Abel Kermode	Evaline May Drummond
	💍 1924/10112
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salvation Army Officer	Salvation Army Officer
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 days	14 days
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Hall, Ashburton
Folio	2135
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1924
Officiating Minister	A. B. Carmichael, Lieutenant Colonel S.A.

19 February 1924

John Boyle McCormick
Olive Grace Rosserry

John Boyle McCormick
Olive Irene McSherry
💍 1924/10113

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic duties

38
28

Ashburton
Ashburton

5 years
15 years

Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton

2136

19 February 1924

Very Rev. Dean O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

No	19
Date of Notice	19 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Boyle McCormick	Olive Grace Rosserry
BDM Match (83%)	John Boyle McCormick	Olive Irene McSherry
	💍 1924/10113
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic duties
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton
Folio	2136
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

19 February 1924

Hugh Paton Findlay
Doris Alexandra Bishop

Hugh Paton Findlay
Doris Alexandra Bishop
💍 1924/10114

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist Assistant
Domestic duties

23
21

Ashburton
Ashburton

5 years
12 years

Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton

2137

19 February 1924

Very Rev. Dean O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

No	20
Date of Notice	19 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Paton Findlay	Doris Alexandra Bishop
	💍 1924/10114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist Assistant	Domestic duties
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton
Folio	2137
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

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).