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 2478

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 December 1925 Registrar W. W. White

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

19 October 1925

Arthur Willis Blackwell
Catherine Agnes Brady

Arthur Willis Blackwell
Catherine Agnes Brady
💍 1925/10264

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
Domestic duties

25
19

Ashburton
Balclutha

4 years
13 years

Roman Catholic Church, Balclutha

10123

Catherine Elizabeth Brady, Mother of minor

19 October 1925

Rev. J. V. Spillane, Roman Catholic

No	74
Date of Notice	19 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Willis Blackwell	Catherine Agnes Brady
	💍 1925/10264
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	Domestic duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Balclutha
Length of Residence	4 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Balclutha
Folio	10123
Consent	Catherine Elizabeth Brady, Mother of minor
Date of Certificate	19 October 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. V. Spillane, Roman Catholic

28 October 1925

Thomas Henry Smitherman
Blanche Lucia Horniacott

Thomas Henry Smitheram
Blanche Lucia Wormacott
💍 1925/10265

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm labourer
Domestic duties

20
21

Ashburton
Ashburton

14 days
1 month

Office of the Registrar, Ashburton

10124

Elizabeth Ann Hampton formerly Smitherman, Mother of minor

28 October 1925

W. W. White, Registrar

No	75
Date of Notice	28 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Smitherman	Blanche Lucia Horniacott
BDM Match (89%)	Thomas Henry Smitheram	Blanche Lucia Wormacott
	💍 1925/10265
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm labourer	Domestic duties
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	14 days	1 month
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Ashburton
Folio	10124
Consent	Elizabeth Ann Hampton formerly Smitherman, Mother of minor
Date of Certificate	28 October 1925
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

2 November 1925

Willard Roy Featherston
Mary Caroline Guldmar Watson

Willard Roy Featherston
Mary Caroline Giildmar Watson
💍 1925/10266

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank officer
Clerk

26
26

Ashburton
Ashburton

5 years
26 years

Methodist Church, Ashburton

10125

2 November 1925

Rev. J. Featherston, Methodist

No	76
Date of Notice	2 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Willard Roy Featherston	Mary Caroline Guldmar Watson
BDM Match (97%)	Willard Roy Featherston	Mary Caroline Giildmar Watson
	💍 1925/10266
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank officer	Clerk
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Ashburton
Folio	10125
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Featherston, Methodist

16 November 1925

Donovan William Hayes
Ellen Alice Bosp

Donovan William Hayes
Ellen Alice Box
💍 1925/10267

Bachelor
Spinster

Company agent
Dressmaker

29
24

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 days
24 years

St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton

10126

16 November 1925

Rev. J. T. Wiseman, Church of England

No	77
Date of Notice	16 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donovan William Hayes	Ellen Alice Bosp
BDM Match (94%)	Donovan William Hayes	Ellen Alice Box
	💍 1925/10267
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Company agent	Dressmaker
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	10126
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. T. Wiseman, Church of England

24 November 1925

Clarence Arnold Dellow
Vera Florence Edis

Clarence Arnold Dellow
Vera Florence Edis
💍 1925/665

Bachelor
Spinster

Tobacconist
Shop assistant

22
20

Ashburton
Ashburton

22 years
11 years

Methodist Church, Mayfield

10127

Walter William Edis, father of minor

24 November 1925

M. James Belshaw, Methodist

No	78
Date of Notice	24 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Arnold Dellow	Vera Florence Edis
	💍 1925/665
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tobacconist	Shop assistant
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	22 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Mayfield
Folio	10127
Consent	Walter William Edis, father of minor
Date of Certificate	24 November 1925
Officiating Minister	M. James Belshaw, Methodist

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).