Intentions to Marry, 1925 Kaikoura to Christchurch

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840533, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1925 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.

1925f contains pages 2177-2702, covering districts from Kaikoura to Christchurch

Page 2351

District of Reefton Quarter ending 31 December 1925 Registrar O. B. A. Sharpe

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

12 October 1925

Harold William Hudson
Louisa Ann Ivey

Harold William Hudson
Louisa Ann Ivey
💍 1925/645

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Tailoress

20 years
18 years

Reefton
Black's Point

18 months
Life

Mr. W.J. Ivey's Private Residence at Black's Point

25/10065

No person in New Zealand with legal authority to consent. Wilfred James Ivey, Father.

28 October 1925

Rev. Cyril Robinson, Methodist

No	13
Date of Notice	12 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold William Hudson	Louisa Ann Ivey
	💍 1925/645
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Tailoress
Age	20 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Black's Point
Length of Residence	18 months	Life
Marriage Place	Mr. W.J. Ivey's Private Residence at Black's Point
Folio	25/10065
Consent	No person in New Zealand with legal authority to consent. Wilfred James Ivey, Father.
Date of Certificate	28 October 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. Cyril Robinson, Methodist

27 November 1925

Henry Leonard Robinson
Mary Clark

Henry Leonard Robinson
Mary Clark
💍 1925/646

Bachelor
Spinster

Cordial maker
Domestic

21 years
16 years

Reefton
Reefton

Life
2 years

Mr. Michael Clark's Private Residence, Main Street, Reefton

25/10066

Michael Clark, Father

27 November 1925

Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Anglican (for Methodist)

No	14
Date of Notice	27 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Leonard Robinson	Mary Clark
	💍 1925/646
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cordial maker	Domestic
Age	21 years	16 years
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	Life	2 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Michael Clark's Private Residence, Main Street, Reefton
Folio	25/10066
Consent	Michael Clark, Father
Date of Certificate	27 November 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Anglican (for Methodist)

24 November 1925

John Henry McMahon
Doris Elizabeth Beatrice Fattorini

John Henry McMahon
Doris Elizabeth Beatrice Fattorini
💍 1925/647

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Waitress

22 years
18 years

Reefton
Reefton

Life
Life

St. Stephen's Church, Reefton

25/10067

Walter Eugene Lammonerie Fattorini, Father

25 November 1925

Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Anglican

No	15
Date of Notice	24 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry McMahon	Doris Elizabeth Beatrice Fattorini
	💍 1925/647
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Waitress
Age	22 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St. Stephen's Church, Reefton
Folio	25/10067
Consent	Walter Eugene Lammonerie Fattorini, Father
Date of Certificate	25 November 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Bloyce, Anglican

1 December 1925

William Francis Kirwan
Winifred Pearl Kinzett

William Francis Kirwan
Winifred Pearl Kinzett
💍 1925/648

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill-Hand
Domestic

22 years
17 years

Reefton
Totara Flat

2 weeks
1 year

Registrar's Office, Reefton

25/10068

Leonard Phipps Kinzett, Father

1 December 1925

O. B. A. Sharpe, Registrar

No	16
Date of Notice	1 December 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Francis Kirwan	Winifred Pearl Kinzett
	💍 1925/648
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill-Hand	Domestic
Age	22 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Totara Flat
Length of Residence	2 weeks	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Reefton
Folio	25/10068
Consent	Leonard Phipps Kinzett, Father
Date of Certificate	1 December 1925
Officiating Minister	O. B. A. Sharpe, Registrar

21 December 1925

Francis Daniel Philip Slater
Catherine Emma Tobin

Francis Daniel Philip Slater
Catherine Emma Tobin
💍 1925/649

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic

28 years
22 years

Reefton
Reefton

1 day
15 years

Roman Catholic Church, Reefton

25/10069

21 December 1925

Rev. J. Herring, Roman Catholic

No	17
Date of Notice	21 December 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Daniel Philip Slater	Catherine Emma Tobin
	💍 1925/649
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic
Age	28 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	1 day	15 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Reefton
Folio	25/10069
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 December 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Herring, Roman Catholic

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).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

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.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

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).