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 2158

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 March 1924 Registrar N. M. Chesney

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

28 February 1924

George Purches
Maude Bowers

George Purches
Maude Bowers
💍 1924/10074

Bachelor
Divorced (Decree absolute 6-6-1923)

Painter
Domestic Duties

34
29

Blenheim
St Andrews

15 years
6 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

24/2031

28 February 1924

Mr. N. M. Chesney, Registrar

No	16
Date of Notice	28 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Purches	Maude Bowers
	💍 1924/10074
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (Decree absolute 6-6-1923)
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	St Andrews
Length of Residence	15 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim
Folio	24/2031
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Mr. N. M. Chesney, Registrar

3 March 1924

Horace James Tapp
Mabel Jellyman

Horace James Tapp
Mabel Jellyman
💍 1924/3254

Widower (19-12-21)
Widow (14-10-15)

Fellmonger
Domestic Duties

43
43

Springlands
Onamalutu

43 years
3 days

Residence of Mr. Albert Barton, Onamalutu

24/2032

3 March 1924

Rev. G. A. Crossman, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	3 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace James Tapp	Mabel Jellyman
	💍 1924/3254
Condition	Widower (19-12-21)	Widow (14-10-15)
Profession	Fellmonger	Domestic Duties
Age	43	43
Dwelling Place	Springlands	Onamalutu
Length of Residence	43 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Albert Barton, Onamalutu
Folio	24/2032
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. A. Crossman, Church of England

7 March 1924

Arthur Frank Stretch
Phyllis Primia Carswell

Arthur Frank Stretch
Phyllis Pimia Carswell
💍 1924/10830

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic Duties

18
20

Grovetown
Blenheim

7 years
12 years

Presbytery of the Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

24/2033

Amy Harnett, Mother; Annie Carswell, Mother

7 March 1924

Dean J. R. Holley, Roman Catholic

No	18
Date of Notice	7 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Frank Stretch	Phyllis Primia Carswell
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Frank Stretch	Phyllis Pimia Carswell
	💍 1924/10830
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic Duties
Age	18	20
Dwelling Place	Grovetown	Blenheim
Length of Residence	7 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Presbytery of the Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	24/2033
Consent	Amy Harnett, Mother; Annie Carswell, Mother
Date of Certificate	7 March 1924
Officiating Minister	Dean J. R. Holley, Roman Catholic

24 March 1924

Arthur Norman Adams
Frances Ellen Gledhill

Arthur Norman Adams
Frances Ellen Gledhill
💍 1924/10075

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

24
23

Fairhall
Fairhall

24 years
23 years

Methodist Church, Blenheim

24/2034

24 March 1924

Rev. William Greenslade, Methodist

No	19
Date of Notice	24 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Norman Adams	Frances Ellen Gledhill
	💍 1924/10075
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Fairhall	Fairhall
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Blenheim
Folio	24/2034
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Greenslade, Methodist

17 March 1924

Cyril Arnold Webster
Ellen Cecilia Mary Smith

Cyril Arnold Webster
Ellen Cecelia Mary Smith
💍 1924/10076

Bachelor
Spinster

Shop Assistant
Domestic Duties

23
18

Blenheim
Blenheim

23 years
18 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

24/2035

Thomas Walter Smith, Father

17 March 1924

Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

No	20
Date of Notice	17 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril Arnold Webster	Ellen Cecilia Mary Smith
BDM Match (98%)	Cyril Arnold Webster	Ellen Cecelia Mary Smith
	💍 1924/10076
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shop Assistant	Domestic Duties
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	23 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	24/2035
Consent	Thomas Walter Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	17 March 1924
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

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).