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 3477

District of Winton Quarter ending 30 June 1924 Registrar G. H. Davis

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 April 1924

Arthur Kerr
Mary McCarthy

Arthur Kerr
Mary McCarthy
💍 1924/4052

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic

35
29

South Hillend
South Hillend

3 days
29 years

Roman Catholic Church, Centre Bush

5363

22 April 1924

Reverend George Michael Hunt, Roman Catholic

No	9
Date of Notice	22 April 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Kerr	Mary McCarthy
	💍 1924/4052
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic
Age	35	29
Dwelling Place	South Hillend	South Hillend
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Centre Bush
Folio	5363
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1924
Officiating Minister	Reverend George Michael Hunt, Roman Catholic

15 May 1924

George Hammond
Margaret Isabella Nelson Grant

George Hammond
Margaret Isabella Nelson Grant
💍 1924/4053

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

35
26

East Limehills
East Limehills

35 years
14 years

Presbyterian Church, Centre Bush

5364

15 May 1924

Rev. A. McNeur, Presbyterian

No	10
Date of Notice	15 May 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hammond	Margaret Isabella Nelson Grant
	💍 1924/4053
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	35	26
Dwelling Place	East Limehills	East Limehills
Length of Residence	35 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Centre Bush
Folio	5364
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. McNeur, Presbyterian

16 May 1924

Frank Herbert Hinsley
Margaret Lee

Frank Herbert Hinsley
Margaret Lee
💍 1924/4054

Widower
Spinster

Ganger N.Z.R.
Domestic

43
47

Winton
Winton

4 years
6 months

Roman Catholic Church, Winton

5365

16 May 1924

Rev. G. M. Hunt, Roman Catholic

No	11
Date of Notice	16 May 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Herbert Hinsley	Margaret Lee
	💍 1924/4054
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Ganger N.Z.R.	Domestic
Age	43	47
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	4 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	5365
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 May 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. M. Hunt, Roman Catholic

19 June 1924

Geoffrey Blanks
Constance Annie Horner

Geoffrey Blanks
Constance Annie Horner
💍 1924/4055

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor-driver
Domestic

32
26

Centre Bush
Oreti

11 years
8 years

Residence of Mrs. Horner, Oreti

5366

19 June 1924

Rev. W. H. Norton, Presbyterian

No	12
Date of Notice	19 June 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Geoffrey Blanks	Constance Annie Horner
	💍 1924/4055
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor-driver	Domestic
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Centre Bush	Oreti
Length of Residence	11 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Horner, Oreti
Folio	5366
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 June 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Norton, Presbyterian

30 June 1924

Sidney Harris
Janet Agnes Watson

Sidney Harris
Janet Agnes Watson
💍 1924/4056

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

30
20

Limehills
Limehills

12 years
20 years

Presbyterian Manse, Winton

5367

William Watson, Father

30 June 1924

Rev. A. McNeur, Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	30 June 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Harris	Janet Agnes Watson
	💍 1924/4056
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Limehills	Limehills
Length of Residence	12 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Winton
Folio	5367
Consent	William Watson, Father
Date of Certificate	30 June 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. McNeur, Presbyterian

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).