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 2408

District of Grey Quarter ending 31 December 1925 Registrar S. F. Collier

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 October 1925

Charles Henry Kevern
Mary Jane Hayden

Charles Henry Kevern
Mary Jane Hayden
💍 1925/10355

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

32
27

Rutherglen
Rutherglen

3 days
6 weeks

Methodist Church, Greymouth

25/10092

28 October 1925

Rev. J. F. Martin, Methodist

No	57
Date of Notice	28 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Kevern	Mary Jane Hayden
	💍 1925/10355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Rutherglen	Rutherglen
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Greymouth
Folio	25/10092
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Martin, Methodist

31 October 1925

Leslie Wilton Russ
Bertha Mary Biddington

Leslie Wilton Russ
Bertha Mary Biddington
💍 1925/10356

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

21
19

Camerons
Camerons

21 years
4 years

Registrar's Office, Greymouth

25/10093

Albert Biddington, father

31 October 1925

Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

No	58
Date of Notice	31 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Wilton Russ	Bertha Mary Biddington
	💍 1925/10356
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Camerons	Camerons
Length of Residence	21 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Greymouth
Folio	25/10093
Consent	Albert Biddington, father
Date of Certificate	31 October 1925
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

2 November 1925

Albert Grubb
Evelyn May Berriea Williams

Albert Grubb
Evelyn May Benica Williams
💍 1925/10357

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic Duties

22
22

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 months
3 days

Registrar's Office, Greymouth

25/10094

2 November 1925

Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

No	59
Date of Notice	2 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Grubb	Evelyn May Berriea Williams
BDM Match (94%)	Albert Grubb	Evelyn May Benica Williams
	💍 1925/10357
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Greymouth
Folio	25/10094
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1925
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

13 November 1925

James Thomas Thornton
Mary Ann McLean

James Thomas Thornton
Mary Ann McLean
💍 1925/10358

Bachelor
Spinster

Yardman
Waitress

25
19

Greymouth
Greymouth

12 months
11 months

St. Patrick's Church, Greymouth

25/10095

Ada Marion McLean, mother

13 November 1925

Rev. T. O'Regan, Roman Catholic

No	60
Date of Notice	13 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas Thornton	Mary Ann McLean
	💍 1925/10358
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Yardman	Waitress
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	12 months	11 months
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Greymouth
Folio	25/10095
Consent	Ada Marion McLean, mother
Date of Certificate	13 November 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. O'Regan, Roman Catholic

30 November 1925

Vernon Percy Peters
Phyllis May Dynes

Vernon Percy Peters
Phyllis May Dynes
💍 1925/10360

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Duties

24
24

Greymouth
Greymouth

2 days
24 years

St. Patrick's Church, Greymouth

25/10096

30 November 1925

Rev. T. O'Regan, Roman Catholic

No	61
Date of Notice	30 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vernon Percy Peters	Phyllis May Dynes
	💍 1925/10360
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	2 days	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Greymouth
Folio	25/10096
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 November 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. O'Regan, Roman Catholic

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).