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 2300

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 1924 Registrar W. H. Heller

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

16 October 1924

Albert Edward Lockyer
Mary Ann Beatrice Julia Parker

Albert Edward Lockyer
Mary Ann Beatrice Julia Parkes
💍 1924/7649

Widower
Spinster

General carrier
Shop assistant

51
49

Nelson
Nelson

51 years
1 year

Church of England Cathedral at Nelson

9871

16 October 1924

Rev. C. F. Askew, Church of England

No	83
Date of Notice	16 October 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Lockyer	Mary Ann Beatrice Julia Parker
BDM Match (98%)	Albert Edward Lockyer	Mary Ann Beatrice Julia Parkes
	💍 1924/7649
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	General carrier	Shop assistant
Age	51	49
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	51 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Church of England Cathedral at Nelson
Folio	9871
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. F. Askew, Church of England

17 October 1924

James Arthur Cotton
Marjory Helen McHardy

James Arthur Cotton
Marjory Helen McHardy
💍 1924/7650

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

22
23

Nelson
Nelson

22 years
4 years

Presbyterian Church at Nelson

9872

17 October 1924

Rev. J. McNeill, Presbyterian

No	84
Date of Notice	17 October 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Arthur Cotton	Marjory Helen McHardy
	💍 1924/7650
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	22 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church at Nelson
Folio	9872
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 October 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McNeill, Presbyterian

22 October 1924

Walter Ashley Page
Olive Leigh

Walter Ashley Page
Olive Leigh
💍 1924/7651

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic Duties

29
24

Nelson
Nelson

29 years
20 years

Church of Christ at Nelson

9873

22 October 1924

G. T. Fitzgerald, Church of Christ

No	85
Date of Notice	22 October 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Ashley Page	Olive Leigh
	💍 1924/7651
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic Duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	29 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ at Nelson
Folio	9873
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1924
Officiating Minister	G. T. Fitzgerald, Church of Christ

31 October 1924

Alfred Flanagan
Rose Elizabeth Lines

Alfred Flanagan
Rose Elizabeth Lines
💍 1924/7652

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

48
46

Nelson
Nelson

2 months
12 years

St. Marys Presbytery at Nelson

9874

31 October 1924

Rev. Hoare, Roman Catholic

No	86
Date of Notice	31 October 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Flanagan	Rose Elizabeth Lines
	💍 1924/7652
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	48	46
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	2 months	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Marys Presbytery at Nelson
Folio	9874
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. Hoare, Roman Catholic

11 November 1924

John William Harris
Louisa Coppell

John William Marris
Louisa Coppell
💍 1924/7653

Widower
Widow

Builder & contractor
Domestic Duties

60
42

Nelson
Nelson

60 years
5 years

Residence of Mr. Houlder, Halifax Street, Nelson

9875

11 November 1924

Rev. H. L. Blamires, Methodist

No	87
Date of Notice	11 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Harris	Louisa Coppell
BDM Match (97%)	John William Marris	Louisa Coppell
	💍 1924/7653
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Builder & contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	60	42
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	60 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Houlder, Halifax Street, Nelson
Folio	9875
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. L. Blamires, Methodist

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).