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 2812

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

4 August 1924

David Gunn
Florence Angelina Harris

David Gunn
Florence Angelina Harris
💍 1924/5610

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot Salesman
Milliner

26
23

Timaru
Timaru

2 1/2 years
22 years

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

7484

4 August 1924

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	90
Date of Notice	4 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Gunn	Florence Angelina Harris
	💍 1924/5610
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot Salesman	Milliner
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	7484
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

6 August 1924

James Bennington
Mary Armitage Sheath

James Bennington
Mary Armitage Sheath
💍 1924/5611

Widower (1.6.1923)
Widow (31.3.1914)

Retired Bootmaker
Domestic Duties

63
53

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

Chalmers Presbyterian Church Manse, Timaru

7485

6 August 1924

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	91
Date of Notice	6 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Bennington	Mary Armitage Sheath
	💍 1924/5611
Condition	Widower (1.6.1923)	Widow (31.3.1914)
Profession	Retired Bootmaker	Domestic Duties
Age	63	53
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church Manse, Timaru
Folio	7485
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

13 August 1924

George Henry Keen
Rachel Dodd

George Henry Keen
Rachel Dodd
💍 1924/5850

Widower (21.7.1917)
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic Duties

41
51

Timaru
Timaru

5 years
17 years

Methodist Church Manse, Arthur Street, Timaru

7781

13 August 1924

Rev. H. J. Odell, Methodist

No	92
Date of Notice	13 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Keen	Rachel Dodd
	💍 1924/5850
Condition	Widower (21.7.1917)	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic Duties
Age	41	51
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Manse, Arthur Street, Timaru
Folio	7781
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Odell, Methodist

14 August 1924

John Joseph McCarthy
Mary Veronica O'Driscoll

John Joseph McCarthy
Mary Veronica O'Driscoll
💍 1924/5851

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic Duties

30
23

Timaru
Timaru

3 years
18 years

Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

7782

14 August 1924

Rev. D. H. Hurley, Roman Catholic

No	93
Date of Notice	14 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph McCarthy	Mary Veronica O'Driscoll
	💍 1924/5851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic Duties
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	7782
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. H. Hurley, Roman Catholic

18 August 1924

Herbert Winter
Emily Maud Burrell

Herbert Winter
Emily Maud Burrell
💍 1924/5612

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

31
28

Timaru
Timaru

14 years
26 years

St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru

7486

18 August 1924

Rev. G. V. Gerard, Anglican

No	94
Date of Notice	18 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Winter	Emily Maud Burrell
	💍 1924/5612
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	14 years	26 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru
Folio	7486
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. V. Gerard, Anglican

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).