Intentions to Marry, 1924 Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840527, 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.

1924h contains pages 3075-3498, covering districts from Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Page 3221

District of Palmerston Quarter ending 31 March 1924 Registrar Mitchell

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

17 January 1924

William McKean
Jeannie Robbie

William McKean
Jeannie Robbie
💍 1924/9161

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

41
27

Palmerston
Palmerston

41 years
15 years

Presbyterian Manse, Palmerston

2282

17 January 1924

Rev. R. A. Chisholm, Presbyterian, Palmerston

No	1
Date of Notice	17 January 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McKean	Jeannie Robbie
	💍 1924/9161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	41	27
Dwelling Place	Palmerston	Palmerston
Length of Residence	41 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Palmerston
Folio	2282
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Chisholm, Presbyterian, Palmerston

9 February 1924

Edward Lifford Adams
Rabena Helen Gilliard

Edward Litford Adams
Robina Helen Gilliand
💍 1924/9162

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Duties

22
21

Palmerston
Palmerston

5 days
5 days

Dwelling of Mr. R. Gilliard, Palmerston

2283

9 February 1924

Rev. R. A. Chisholm, Presbyterian, Palmerston

No	2
Date of Notice	9 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Lifford Adams	Rabena Helen Gilliard
BDM Match (90%)	Edward Litford Adams	Robina Helen Gilliand
	💍 1924/9162
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston	Palmerston
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. R. Gilliard, Palmerston
Folio	2283
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Chisholm, Presbyterian, Palmerston

11 February 1924

John George Taylor
Teie Burns

John George Naylor
Tuie Burns
💍 1924/9139

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

39
22

Bushey Park
Bushey Park

3 days
3 days

Dwelling of Mr. John Burns, Bushey Park, Palmerston

2284

11 February 1924

Rev. R. A. Chisholm, Presbyterian, Palmerston

No	3
Date of Notice	11 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John George Taylor	Teie Burns
BDM Match (92%)	John George Naylor	Tuie Burns
	💍 1924/9139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	39	22
Dwelling Place	Bushey Park	Bushey Park
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. John Burns, Bushey Park, Palmerston
Folio	2284
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Chisholm, Presbyterian, Palmerston

22 February 1924

Clarence Farrington Skinner
Julia Buckley Gray

Clarence Farrington Skinner
Julia Buckley Gray
💍 1924/9140

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

24
24

Palmerston
Palmerston

1 day
2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Palmerston

2285

22 February 1924

Rev. Father T. S. Kavanagh, Roman Catholic, Palmerston

No	4
Date of Notice	22 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Farrington Skinner	Julia Buckley Gray
	💍 1924/9140
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Palmerston	Palmerston
Length of Residence	1 day	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Palmerston
Folio	2285
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father T. S. Kavanagh, Roman Catholic, Palmerston

22 February 1924

Archibald Walter Craig
Amelia Gladys Day

Archibold Walter Craig
Amelia Gladys Day
💍 1924/9141

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Duties

28
22

Palmerston
Palmerston

12 years
22 years

Presbyterian Manse, Palmerston

2286

22 February 1924

Rev. R. A. Chisholm, Presbyterian, Palmerston

No	5
Date of Notice	22 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Walter Craig	Amelia Gladys Day
BDM Match (98%)	Archibold Walter Craig	Amelia Gladys Day
	💍 1924/9141
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Duties
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston	Palmerston
Length of Residence	12 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Palmerston
Folio	2286
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Chisholm, Presbyterian, Palmerston

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).