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 2294

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1924 Registrar W. M. Eggleston

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

24 July 1924

Percy Watson Stewart
Florence Maud Bertram

Percy Watson Stewart
Florence Maud Bertram
💍 1924/5488

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Typist

27
23

Nelson
Nelson

20 years
3 1/2 years

Baptist Church, Nelson

7329

24 July 1924

Rev. John Laird, Baptist

No	57
Date of Notice	24 July 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Watson Stewart	Florence Maud Bertram
	💍 1924/5488
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Typist
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	20 years	3 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Nelson
Folio	7329
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Laird, Baptist

26 July 1924

William Charles Powell
Ethel Laura Mary Wilson

William Charles Powell
Ethel Laura Mary Wilson
💍 1924/5489

Widower (9 January 1923)
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

37
49

Hope
Nelson

3 years
6 months

Church of Christ, Nelson

7330

26 July 1924

W. G. Carpenter, Church of Christ

No	58
Date of Notice	26 July 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Powell	Ethel Laura Mary Wilson
	💍 1924/5489
Condition	Widower (9 January 1923)	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	37	49
Dwelling Place	Hope	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Nelson
Folio	7330
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1924
Officiating Minister	W. G. Carpenter, Church of Christ

30 July 1924

James Charles Hickey
Jessie Stewart

James Charles Hickey
Jessie Stewart
💍 1924/5490

Widower (23 June 1907)
Spinster

Tanner
Dressmaker

26
25

Nelson
Nelson

3 years
25 years

31 Washington Valley, Nelson

7331

30 July 1924

Rev. H. L. Blamires, Methodist

No	59
Date of Notice	30 July 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Charles Hickey	Jessie Stewart
	💍 1924/5490
Condition	Widower (23 June 1907)	Spinster
Profession	Tanner	Dressmaker
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 years	25 years
Marriage Place	31 Washington Valley, Nelson
Folio	7331
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. L. Blamires, Methodist

31 July 1924

Stanley Gordon Thompson
Amy Ruffell

Stanley Gordon Thompson
Amy Ruffell
💍 1924/5491

Bachelor
Spinster

General Carrier
Shop Assistant

33
19

Nelson
Nelson

15 years
19 years

All Saints Church, Nelson

7332

Charles Harry Ruffell, Father

31 July 1924

Rev. F. Tring Rowe, Church of England

No	60
Date of Notice	31 July 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Gordon Thompson	Amy Ruffell
	💍 1924/5491
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	General Carrier	Shop Assistant
Age	33	19
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	15 years	19 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Nelson
Folio	7332
Consent	Charles Harry Ruffell, Father
Date of Certificate	31 July 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Tring Rowe, Church of England

1 August 1924

Lawrence Mead
Elaine Francis Cole

Lawrence Mead
Elaine Francis Cole
💍 1924/5492

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

21
17

Nelson
Motupiko

3 days
17 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

7333

Newton George Cole, Father

1 August 1924

W. M. Eggleston, Registrar

No	61
Date of Notice	1 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Mead	Elaine Francis Cole
	💍 1924/5492
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Motupiko
Length of Residence	3 days	17 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	7333
Consent	Newton George Cole, Father
Date of Certificate	1 August 1924
Officiating Minister	W. M. Eggleston, Registrar

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).