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 2469

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 June 1925 Registrar Morrow

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

8 May 1925

James Reid Ferguson
Emily May Gardiner

James Reid Ferguson
Emily May Gardiner
💍 1925/5132

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm labourer
Domestic duties

30
21

Ashburton
Dunsandel

30 years
6 years

Church of England, Dunsandel

4969

8 May 1925

Rev. H. A. Hawkins, Church of England

No	34
Date of Notice	8 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Reid Ferguson	Emily May Gardiner
	💍 1925/5132
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm labourer	Domestic duties
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Dunsandel
Length of Residence	30 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Dunsandel
Folio	4969
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Hawkins, Church of England

8 May 1925

Harold Edwin Adolphus Locke
Idara Marion Beck

Harold Edwin Adolphus Lock
Clara Marion Beck
💍 1925/5134

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

43
34

Ashburton
Ashburton

March 1924
1 month

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

4970

8 May 1925

Rev. G. W. J. Hercules, Presbyterian

No	35
Date of Notice	8 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Edwin Adolphus Locke	Idara Marion Beck
BDM Match (92%)	Harold Edwin Adolphus Lock	Clara Marion Beck
	💍 1925/5134
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	43	34
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	March 1924	1 month
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	4970
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. J. Hercules, Presbyterian

14 May 1925

John Arthur Whintock
Myra Alice Bain

John Arthur McLintock
Myra Alice Cain
💍 1925/5135

Bachelor
Spinster

Teamster
Domestic duties

20
16

Ashburton
Ashburton

2 months
6 months

Office of the Registrar, Ashburton

4971

James Alexander Whintock, father of minor; Samuel Stevenson Bain, father of minor

18 May 1925

W. W. White, Registrar

No	36
Date of Notice	14 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Arthur Whintock	Myra Alice Bain
BDM Match (90%)	John Arthur McLintock	Myra Alice Cain
	💍 1925/5135
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teamster	Domestic duties
Age	20	16
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	2 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Ashburton
Folio	4971
Consent	James Alexander Whintock, father of minor; Samuel Stevenson Bain, father of minor
Date of Certificate	18 May 1925
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

26 May 1925

Alfred John Tyrell-Baxter
Matilda Anne Boife

Alfred John Tyrrell-Baxter
Matilda Anne Boyle
💍 1925/5136

Widower
Widow

Linotype Operator
Domestic duties

56
49

Ashburton
Ashburton

10th October 1920
19th December 1920

At the dwelling of A. J. Tyrell-Baxter, 77 Cameron Street, Ashburton

4972

26 May 1925

Rev. C. S. Matthews, Baptist

No	37
Date of Notice	26 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred John Tyrell-Baxter	Matilda Anne Boife
BDM Match (93%)	Alfred John Tyrrell-Baxter	Matilda Anne Boyle
	💍 1925/5136
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Linotype Operator	Domestic duties
Age	56	49
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	10th October 1920	19th December 1920
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of A. J. Tyrell-Baxter, 77 Cameron Street, Ashburton
Folio	4972
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. S. Matthews, Baptist

4 June 1925

John William Paterson
Catherine Foreman Bells

John William Paterson
Catherine Foreman Betts
💍 1925/5137

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraph linesman
Clerk

26
23

Ashburton
Ashburton

5 years
53 years

Mission Hall, Ashburton

4973

4 June 1925

W. J. Pratley, Ashburton Mission

No	38
Date of Notice	4 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Paterson	Catherine Foreman Bells
BDM Match (96%)	John William Paterson	Catherine Foreman Betts
	💍 1925/5137
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraph linesman	Clerk
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 years	53 years
Marriage Place	Mission Hall, Ashburton
Folio	4973
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1925
Officiating Minister	W. J. Pratley, Ashburton Mission

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).