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 2282

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1924 Registrar W. M. Egglestone

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 January 1924

George Lewis Rees
Doris May Abernethy

George Lewis Rees
Doris May Abernethy
💍 1924/9036

Divorced (Decree Absolute 1-3-1923)
Spinster

Motor Trimmer
Domestic

34
28

Nelson
Nelson

10 weeks
10 days

Residence of Mrs. Williams, 136 Hardy Street, Nelson

24/2056

22 January 1924

A. G. Montgomery, Salvation Army

No	6
Date of Notice	22 January 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Lewis Rees	Doris May Abernethy
	💍 1924/9036
Condition	Divorced (Decree Absolute 1-3-1923)	Spinster
Profession	Motor Trimmer	Domestic
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	10 weeks	10 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Williams, 136 Hardy Street, Nelson
Folio	24/2056
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1924
Officiating Minister	A. G. Montgomery, Salvation Army

26 January 1924

Thomas Avon Atkins
Helen Barton

Thomas Avon Atkins
Helen Barton
💍 1924/9037

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Waitress

20
21

Richmond
Nelson

3 years
15 years

The residence of Mr. Grimmett, Milton Street, Nelson

24/2057

James Atkins, Father

26 January 1924

Rev. E. W. Hames, Methodist

No	7
Date of Notice	26 January 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Avon Atkins	Helen Barton
	💍 1924/9037
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Waitress
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 years	15 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. Grimmett, Milton Street, Nelson
Folio	24/2057
Consent	James Atkins, Father
Date of Certificate	26 January 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. W. Hames, Methodist

2 February 1924

Edward Campbell Ellis
Queenie Rebecca Turnbull

Edward Campbell Ellis
Queenie Rebecca Turnbull
💍 1924/9039

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Dealer
Domestic Duties

32
28

Stoke
Wakatu

3 years
8 years

St. Barnabas Church of England, Stoke

24/2058

2 February 1924

Rev. J. G. Rogers, Church of England

No	8
Date of Notice	2 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Campbell Ellis	Queenie Rebecca Turnbull
	💍 1924/9039
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Dealer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Stoke	Wakatu
Length of Residence	3 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church of England, Stoke
Folio	24/2058
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Rogers, Church of England

2 February 1924

George Henry David Mills
Elsie Maude Lester

George Henry David Mills
Elsie Maude Lester
💍 1924/9040

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

22
25

Nelson; Flat Creek
Nelson; Matakitaki

1 day;
4 years;

St. John's Methodist Church, Nelson

24/2059

2 February 1924

Rev. E. W. Hames, Methodist

No	9
Date of Notice	2 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry David Mills	Elsie Maude Lester
	💍 1924/9040
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson; Flat Creek	Nelson; Matakitaki
Length of Residence	1 day;	4 years;
Marriage Place	St. John's Methodist Church, Nelson
Folio	24/2059
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. W. Hames, Methodist

4 February 1924

Mostyn Ashley Bell
Sarah Gynon

Mostyn Ashley Bell
Sarah Symon
💍 1924/9041

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

23
19

Nelson
Nelson

23 years
10 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

24/2060

John Gibson, Step-father (acting as guardian)

4 February 1924

W. M. Egglestone, Registrar

No	10
Date of Notice	4 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mostyn Ashley Bell	Sarah Gynon
BDM Match (91%)	Mostyn Ashley Bell	Sarah Symon
	💍 1924/9041
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	23 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	24/2060
Consent	John Gibson, Step-father (acting as guardian)
Date of Certificate	4 February 1924
Officiating Minister	W. M. Egglestone, 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).