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 2411

District of Hokitika Quarter ending 31 March 1925 Registrar H. G. F. Coles

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

9 January 1925

William Robert Adamson
Millicent Elizabeth Murdoch

William Robert Adamson
Millicent Elizabeth Murdoch
💍 1925/4635

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

35
24

Hokitika
Camerons

2 weeks
14 years

All Saints Anglican Church, Hokitika

2240

9 January 1925

Rev. J. R. Young, Anglican

No	1
Date of Notice	9 January 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robert Adamson	Millicent Elizabeth Murdoch
	💍 1925/4635
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Camerons
Length of Residence	2 weeks	14 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Anglican Church, Hokitika
Folio	2240
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Young, Anglican

22 January 1925

Arthur Joseph Rooney
Eileen Mary Richardson

Arthur Joseph Rooney
Eileen Mary Richardson
💍 1925/4636

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Domestic Duties

24
20

Kanieri
Hokitika

24 years
16 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika

2241

Sidney William Richardson, Father

22 January 1925

Rev. J. A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

No	2
Date of Notice	22 January 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Joseph Rooney	Eileen Mary Richardson
	💍 1925/4636
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Domestic Duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Kanieri	Hokitika
Length of Residence	24 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika
Folio	2241
Consent	Sidney William Richardson, Father
Date of Certificate	22 January 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

27 January 1925

William Chetwynd
Isabel Gladys Findlay

William Chetwynd
Isabel Gladys Findlay
💍 1925/4637

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant
Shop Assistant

22
20

Hokitika
Hokitika

3 days
17 years

Residence of Mr. John Findlay, Bealey St, Hokitika

2242

John Findlay, Father

27 January 1925

John Francis Jack, Methodist

No	3
Date of Notice	27 January 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Chetwynd	Isabel Gladys Findlay
	💍 1925/4637
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant	Shop Assistant
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Hokitika
Length of Residence	3 days	17 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. John Findlay, Bealey St, Hokitika
Folio	2242
Consent	John Findlay, Father
Date of Certificate	27 January 1925
Officiating Minister	John Francis Jack, Methodist

2 February 1925

Joseph Andrew Kidd
Angeline Bride Burtain

Joseph Andrew Kidd
Angelina Bride Curtain
💍 1925/4638

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand
Domestic Duties

19
20

Hokitika
Ruatapu

19 years
20 years

Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika

2243

Joseph Andrew Kidd, Father; Mary Burtain, Mother

2 February 1925

Rev. John Riordan, Roman Catholic

No	4
Date of Notice	2 February 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Andrew Kidd	Angeline Bride Burtain
BDM Match (95%)	Joseph Andrew Kidd	Angelina Bride Curtain
	💍 1925/4638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand	Domestic Duties
Age	19	20
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Ruatapu
Length of Residence	19 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika
Folio	2243
Consent	Joseph Andrew Kidd, Father; Mary Burtain, Mother
Date of Certificate	2 February 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Riordan, Roman Catholic

20 February 1925

John England Stokes
Stella Louisa Herring

John England Stokes
Stella Louisa Herring
💍 1925/4639

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

29
19

Greymouth
Hokitika

1 day
13 years

All Saints Anglican Church, Hokitika

2244

Richard William James Herring, Father

20 February 1925

Rev. John Perkins, Anglican

No	5
Date of Notice	20 February 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John England Stokes	Stella Louisa Herring
	💍 1925/4639
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	29	19
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Hokitika
Length of Residence	1 day	13 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Anglican Church, Hokitika
Folio	2244
Consent	Richard William James Herring, Father
Date of Certificate	20 February 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Perkins, Anglican

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).