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 2508

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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

136

17 February 1925

William Lance Parkinson
Jenny Louise Whitmore

William Lance Parkinson
Jenny Louise Whitmore
💍 1925/9794

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent

27
28

Saltwater Creek
Christchurch

21 years
4 years

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans

1127

17 February 1925

T. Hamilton, Anglican

No	136
Date of Notice	17 February 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lance Parkinson	Jenny Louise Whitmore
	💍 1925/9794
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Saltwater Creek	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans
Folio	1127
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1925
Officiating Minister	T. Hamilton, Anglican

137

17 February 1925

Thomas Hugh (Erie) Choms
Jessie Nellie Stewart

Thomas Hugh Erie Monro
Jessie Nellie Stewart
💍 1925/9795

Bachelor
Spinster

Company Secretary

27
32

Hillsborough
Riccarton

Life
Life

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

1128

17 February 1925

C. L. D. Webster, Presbyterian

No	137
Date of Notice	17 February 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hugh (Erie) Choms	Jessie Nellie Stewart
BDM Match (85%)	Thomas Hugh Erie Monro	Jessie Nellie Stewart
	💍 1925/9795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Company Secretary
Age	27	32
Dwelling Place	Hillsborough	Riccarton
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	1128
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1925
Officiating Minister	C. L. D. Webster, Presbyterian

138

17 February 1925

Herbert Francis Wood
Martha Constance White

Herbert Francis Wood
Martha Constance White
💍 1925/9796

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic

33
25

Christchurch
Riccarton

21 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

1129

17 February 1925

D. Lordan, Roman Catholic

No	138
Date of Notice	17 February 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Francis Wood	Martha Constance White
	💍 1925/9796
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	21 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	1129
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1925
Officiating Minister	D. Lordan, Roman Catholic

139

17 February 1925

Alexander G. Karlie Hammer
Ivy Victoria Freeman

Alexander Charles Hammar
Ivy Victoria Freeman
💍 1925/9797

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter

33
29

Sydenham
Linwood

2 months
2 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

1130

17 February 1925

Registrar

No	139
Date of Notice	17 February 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander G. Karlie Hammer	Ivy Victoria Freeman
BDM Match (87%)	Alexander Charles Hammar	Ivy Victoria Freeman
	💍 1925/9797
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Linwood
Length of Residence	2 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	1130
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1925
Officiating Minister	Registrar

140

18 February 1925

Norman Frank Fowler
Vera Constance Leah Marshall

Norman Frank Fowler
Vera Constance Leah Marshall
💍 1925/9798

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

39
23

Halkett
St. Albans

9 years
3 weeks

Methodist Church, Rugby Street, St. Albans

25/1131

18 February 1925

T. B. Neale, Methodist

No	140
Date of Notice	18 February 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Frank Fowler	Vera Constance Leah Marshall
	💍 1925/9798
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	39	23
Dwelling Place	Halkett	St. Albans
Length of Residence	9 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Rugby Street, St. Albans
Folio	25/1131
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1925
Officiating Minister	T. B. Neale, Methodist

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).