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 2540

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

290

2 April 1925

Charles William Francis
Amy Doreen Keys

Charles William Francis
Aney Doreen Keys
💍 1925/2772

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

24
23

St. Albans
Opawa

23 years
6 years

St. Peter's Church, Woolston

3573

2 April 1925

W. Tanner, Presbyterian

No	290
Date of Notice	2 April 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Francis	Amy Doreen Keys
BDM Match (94%)	Charles William Francis	Aney Doreen Keys
	💍 1925/2772
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Opawa
Length of Residence	23 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Woolston
Folio	3573
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1925
Officiating Minister	W. Tanner, Presbyterian

291

3 April 1925

Clarence Bernard Handsome Haines
Ethel Choy Pukerby

Clarence Barnard Handsome Haines
Ethel May Rickerby
💍 1925/2773

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer

21
21

Christchurch
Leeston

3 days
8 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

3574

3 April 1925

Registrar

No	291
Date of Notice	3 April 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Bernard Handsome Haines	Ethel Choy Pukerby
BDM Match (82%)	Clarence Barnard Handsome Haines	Ethel May Rickerby
	💍 1925/2773
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Leeston
Length of Residence	3 days	8 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	3574
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1925
Officiating Minister	Registrar

292

3 April 1925

Reginald Joseph Smith
Alice Cheany Quinn

Reginald Joseph Smith
Alice Mary Quinn
💍 1925/3906

Bachelor
Spinster

Motorman

25
25

Sydenham
Sydenham

20 years
4 weeks

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

3575

3 April 1925

D. Healy, Roman Catholic

No	292
Date of Notice	3 April 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Joseph Smith	Alice Cheany Quinn
BDM Match (89%)	Reginald Joseph Smith	Alice Mary Quinn
	💍 1925/3906
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motorman
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	20 years	4 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	3575
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1925
Officiating Minister	D. Healy, Roman Catholic

293

3 April 1925

Harold Lightband
Anita Isabel Bull

Harold Lightband
Anita Isabel Bull
💍 1925/3917

Widower
Spinster

Merchant

57
56

Christchurch
Christchurch

32 years
4 years

St. Augustine's Church, Cashmere

3576

3 April 1925

A. H. Norris, Anglican

No	293
Date of Notice	3 April 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Lightband	Anita Isabel Bull
	💍 1925/3917
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	57	56
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	32 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Cashmere
Folio	3576
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1925
Officiating Minister	A. H. Norris, Anglican

294

3 April 1925

Leon John Ley
Evelyn Emily Finlay

Leon John Sey
Evelyn Emily Finlay
💍 1925/3924

Bachelor
Widow

Clerk

40
39

St. Albans
St. Albans

Life
8 years

Residence of Mrs. Ley, 70 Derby Street, St. Albans

3577

3 April 1925

J. W. Armour, Presbyterian

No	294
Date of Notice	3 April 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leon John Ley	Evelyn Emily Finlay
BDM Match (96%)	Leon John Sey	Evelyn Emily Finlay
	💍 1925/3924
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Clerk
Age	40	39
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Ley, 70 Derby Street, St. Albans
Folio	3577
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1925
Officiating Minister	J. W. Armour, 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).

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).