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 2470

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 June 1925 Registrar Morowits

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

4 June 1925

Benjamin James Evans
Hilda Louise Hayward

Benjamin James Evans
Nilda Louise Hayward
💍 1925/5138

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

25
33

Ashburton
Ashburton

2 months
4 years

Methodist Church, Ashburton

4974

4 June 1925

Rev. C. S. Matthews, Baptist

No	39
Date of Notice	4 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin James Evans	Hilda Louise Hayward
BDM Match (98%)	Benjamin James Evans	Nilda Louise Hayward
	💍 1925/5138
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	25	33
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	2 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Ashburton
Folio	4974
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. S. Matthews, Baptist

10 June 1925

George Glassey
Emily Christina Argyle

George Glassey
Emily Christina Argyle
💍 1925/13

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

53
51

Ashburton
Ashburton

23 years
10 years

Presbyterian Church, Mayfield

4975

10 June 1925

Rev. A. G. Irvine, Presbyterian

No	40
Date of Notice	10 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Glassey	Emily Christina Argyle
	💍 1925/13
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	53	51
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	23 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Mayfield
Folio	4975
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. G. Irvine, Presbyterian

15 June 1925

William Thomas Richardson
Mary Kathleen Lloyd

William Thomas Richardson
Mary Kathleen Lloyd
💍 1925/5157

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic duties

35
33

Ashburton
Ashburton

2 years
33 years

The dwelling of H. A. Lloyd, Netherby

4976

15 June 1925

Rev. A. G. Irvine, Presbyterian

No	41
Date of Notice	15 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Richardson	Mary Kathleen Lloyd
	💍 1925/5157
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic duties
Age	35	33
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	2 years	33 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling of H. A. Lloyd, Netherby
Folio	4976
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. G. Irvine, Presbyterian

22 June 1925

William John Hampton
Margaret Elizabeth Hampton

William John Hampton
Margaret Elizabeth Hampton
💍 1925/5163

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

36
33

Ashburton
Ashburton

5 years
33 years

St. Luke's Church of England, Hinds

4977

22 June 1925

Rev. James Hay, Church of England

No	42
Date of Notice	22 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Hampton	Margaret Elizabeth Hampton
	💍 1925/5163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	36	33
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 years	33 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church of England, Hinds
Folio	4977
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Hay, Church of England

25 June 1925

Herbert Norman Lewis
Ellen Isobel Bain

Herbert Norman Lewis
Ellen Isobel Bain
💍 1925/5164

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

24
35

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 years
5 years

Presbyterian Manse, Ashburton

4978

25 June 1925

Rev. A. G. Irvine, Presbyterian

No	43
Date of Notice	25 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Norman Lewis	Ellen Isobel Bain
	💍 1925/5164
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	24	35
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Ashburton
Folio	4978
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. G. Irvine, 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).