Intentions to Marry, 1924 Cust to Dunedin

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840526, 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.

1924g contains pages 2647-3074, covering districts from Cust to Dunedin

Page 2813

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 September 1924 Registrar F. Duncan

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

27 August 1924

John Hamilton Sinclair Thomson
Alice Rachel Elworthy

John Hamilton Sinclair Thomson
Alice Rachel Elworthy
💍 1924/5613

Bachelor
Spinster

Runholder
Runholder

25
21

Four Peaks
Holme Station

14 years
Life

St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru

7487

27 August 1924

Most Rev. Archbishop B. Julius, Anglican

No	95
Date of Notice	27 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hamilton Sinclair Thomson	Alice Rachel Elworthy
	💍 1924/5613
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Runholder	Runholder
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Four Peaks	Holme Station
Length of Residence	14 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru
Folio	7487
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Most Rev. Archbishop B. Julius, Anglican

28 August 1924

Henry Taylor
Isabella Sophia Rose Kilgour

Henry Taylor
Isabella Sophia Rose Kilgour
💍 1924/5614

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Lady's Help

34
20

Springbrook, St. Andrews
Winchester

2 weeks
2 years

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

7488

James Kilgour, Father

28 August 1924

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	96
Date of Notice	28 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Taylor	Isabella Sophia Rose Kilgour
	💍 1924/5614
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Lady's Help
Age	34	20
Dwelling Place	Springbrook, St. Andrews	Winchester
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	7488
Consent	James Kilgour, Father
Date of Certificate	28 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

30 August 1924

James McQuilkin
Annie Elizabeth Mary Ardagh

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

22
22

Eiffelton
Commercial Hotel, Timaru

22 years
3 years

30 August 1924

Rev. B. Ardagh, Roman Catholic

No	97
Date of Notice	30 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McQuilkin	Annie Elizabeth Mary Ardagh
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Eiffelton	Commercial Hotel, Timaru
Length of Residence	22 years	3 years
Marriage Place
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Ardagh, Roman Catholic

1 September 1924

Jasper Harry Salt
Rita Elizabeth Wenlock

Jasper Harry Salt
Rita Elizabeth Wenlock
💍 1924/5615

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic Duties

25
21

Sockburn
Timaru

1 year
17 years

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

7489

1 September 1924

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	98
Date of Notice	1 September 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jasper Harry Salt	Rita Elizabeth Wenlock
	💍 1924/5615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic Duties
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Sockburn	Timaru
Length of Residence	1 year	17 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	7489
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

2 September 1924

James Densem
Irene May Foster

James Densem
Irene May Foster
💍 1924/5616

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Domestic Duties

24
23

Timaru
Timaru

4 years
Life

Methodist Church, Bank Street, Timaru

7490

2 September 1924

Rev. A. B. Lawry, Methodist

No	99
Date of Notice	2 September 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Densem	Irene May Foster
	💍 1924/5616
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 years	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Bank Street, Timaru
Folio	7490
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Lawry, 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).