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 2611

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1925

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

638

8 August 1925

Charles Stanley Power
Vera Catherine Hanson

Charles Stanley Powick
Vera Catherine Manson
💍 1925/6238

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician

22
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
5 years

St. Andrews Church

6188

8 August 1925

Rev. L. D. Webster, Presbyterian

No	638
Date of Notice	8 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Stanley Power	Vera Catherine Hanson
BDM Match (91%)	Charles Stanley Powick	Vera Catherine Manson
	💍 1925/6238
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church
Folio	6188
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. D. Webster, Presbyterian

639

10 August 1925

William Daniel Carpenter
Mabel Maud Calyard

William Daniel Carpinter
Mabel Maud Malzard
💍 1925/6239

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

21
18

Linwood
Linwood

10 months
10 months

Residence of Rev. P. R. Paris, 67 Bangham Street, Sydenham

6189

George Ernest Calyard, father

10 August 1925

Rev. P. R. Paris, Methodist

No	639
Date of Notice	10 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Daniel Carpenter	Mabel Maud Calyard
BDM Match (92%)	William Daniel Carpinter	Mabel Maud Malzard
	💍 1925/6239
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	10 months	10 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. P. R. Paris, 67 Bangham Street, Sydenham
Folio	6189
Consent	George Ernest Calyard, father
Date of Certificate	10 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. R. Paris, Methodist

640

10 August 1925

Wesley Blight
Catherine Hay Dallas

Wesley Blight
Catherine Hay Dallas
💍 1925/6240

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher

25
27

Riccarton
Riccarton

13 months
4 months

Presbyterian Church, Riccarton

6190

10 August 1925

Rev. J. B. Kilroy, Presbyterian

No	640
Date of Notice	10 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wesley Blight	Catherine Hay Dallas
	💍 1925/6240
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	13 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Riccarton
Folio	6190
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Kilroy, Presbyterian

641

10 August 1925

Victor John Charles Hamilton Moor
Gladys McAlister

Victor John Charles Hamilton Moir
Gladys McAlister
💍 1925/6241

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

29
25

Beckenham
Cashmere

2 years
Life

St. Saviours Church, Sydenham

6191

10 August 1925

Rev. C. G. Mutter, Anglican

No	641
Date of Notice	10 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor John Charles Hamilton Moor	Gladys McAlister
BDM Match (99%)	Victor John Charles Hamilton Moir	Gladys McAlister
	💍 1925/6241
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Beckenham	Cashmere
Length of Residence	2 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Saviours Church, Sydenham
Folio	6191
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. G. Mutter, Anglican

642

10 August 1925

William Stanley Chappell
Eileen Mary Royal

William Stanley Chappell
Eileen Mary Rogal
💍 1925/6242

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

22
23

Prebbleton
Prebbleton

6 years
6 years

St. Agnes Church, Halswell

6192

10 August 1925

Rev. J. Quinn, Roman Catholic

No	642
Date of Notice	10 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stanley Chappell	Eileen Mary Royal
BDM Match (97%)	William Stanley Chappell	Eileen Mary Rogal
	💍 1925/6242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Agnes Church, Halswell
Folio	6192
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Quinn, Roman Catholic

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).