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 2414

District of Hokitika Quarter ending 30 June 1925 Registrar H. G. T. Coles

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

28 May 1925

Theodore Arthur Lynch
Martha May Louisa Schroder

Theodore Arthur Lynch
Martha May Louisa Schroder
💍 1925/5110

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Nurse

29
27

Hokitika
Hokitika

29 years
27 years

The Anglican Church, Hokitika

4945

28 May 1925

Rev. John Perkins, Anglican

No	14
Date of Notice	28 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Theodore Arthur Lynch	Martha May Louisa Schroder
	💍 1925/5110
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Nurse
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Hokitika
Length of Residence	29 years	27 years
Marriage Place	The Anglican Church, Hokitika
Folio	4945
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Perkins, Anglican

8 June 1925

James Murel Woolhouse
Dorothy Eloise Howat

James Murel Woolhouse
Dorothy Eloise Howat
💍 1925/5111

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Duties

30
19

Kanieri
Arthurstown

3 years
19 years

Presbyterian Church, Hokitika

4946

James Howat, Father

8 June 1925

Rev. Benjamin Hutson, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	8 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Murel Woolhouse	Dorothy Eloise Howat
	💍 1925/5111
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Duties
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Kanieri	Arthurstown
Length of Residence	3 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hokitika
Folio	4946
Consent	James Howat, Father
Date of Certificate	8 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. Benjamin Hutson, Presbyterian

9 June 1925

William Saunders Christensen
Irene Mary Lincoln

William Saunders Christensen
Irene Mary Lincoln
💍 1925/5112

Bachelor
Spinster

Snigger
Domestic Duties

25
20

Hokitika
Hokitika

5 years
20 years

St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika

4947

Margaret Cameron Lincoln, mother

9 June 1925

Rev. Dr. James A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

No	16
Date of Notice	9 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Saunders Christensen	Irene Mary Lincoln
	💍 1925/5112
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Snigger	Domestic Duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Hokitika
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika
Folio	4947
Consent	Margaret Cameron Lincoln, mother
Date of Certificate	9 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. James A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

10 June 1925

John Ferguson
Harriet Sarah Parker

John Ferguson
Harriet Sarah Parker
💍 1925/5113

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

42
21

Hokitika
Arthurstown

5 days
21 years

Mr. Frank Amos Parker's Residence, Arthurstown, Hokitika

4948

10 June 1925

Rev. B. Hutson, Presbyterian

No	17
Date of Notice	10 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ferguson	Harriet Sarah Parker
	💍 1925/5113
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	42	21
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Arthurstown
Length of Residence	5 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Frank Amos Parker's Residence, Arthurstown, Hokitika
Folio	4948
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Hutson, Presbyterian

17 June 1925

Eric Alan Hackell
Olive Muriel Irving

Eric Alan Hackell
Olive Muriel Irving
💍 1925/5114

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Milliner

22
23

Hokitika
Hokitika

22 years
10 months

Presbyterian Manse, Hokitika

4949

17 June 1925

Rev. Benjamin Hutson, Presbyterian

No	18
Date of Notice	17 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Alan Hackell	Olive Muriel Irving
	💍 1925/5114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Milliner
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Hokitika
Length of Residence	22 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Hokitika
Folio	4949
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. Benjamin Hutson, 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).