Intentions to Marry, 1925 Cust to Dunedin

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840534, 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.

1925g contains pages 2703-3132, covering districts from Cust to Dunedin

Page 2874

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 December 1925 Registrar A. E. Reynolds

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

129

7 October 1925

Arthur Fenwick
Edith Maud Hoskin

Arthur Fenwick
Edith Maud Hoskins
💍 1925/10318

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Shop assistant

25
24

Sutherlands
St. Andrews

7 weeks
Life

St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru

10182

7 October 1925

Rev. D. Rankin, Anglican

No	129
Date of Notice	7 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Fenwick	Edith Maud Hoskin
BDM Match (97%)	Arthur Fenwick	Edith Maud Hoskins
	💍 1925/10318
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Shop assistant
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Sutherlands	St. Andrews
Length of Residence	7 weeks	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru
Folio	10182
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Rankin, Anglican

130

8 October 1925

Thomas Warren Muirhead
Nora Catherine Brabb

Thomas Warren Muirhead
Nora Catherine Crabb
💍 1925/10319

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Officer
Music Teacher

29
26

Timaru
Christchurch

23 months
2 weeks

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch

10183

8 October 1925

Rev. J. A. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

No	130
Date of Notice	8 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Warren Muirhead	Nora Catherine Brabb
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Warren Muirhead	Nora Catherine Crabb
	💍 1925/10319
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Officer	Music Teacher
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 months	2 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch
Folio	10183
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

131

9 October 1925

Thomas Michael Brophy
Charlotte Mary Bull

[No matching marriage registration has been located]

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Official
Domestic Duties

39
29

Invercargill
Timaru

3 months
11 months

Sacred Heart Church, Timaru

9 October 1925

Rev. W. H. Hurley, Roman Catholic

No	131
Date of Notice	9 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Michael Brophy	Charlotte Mary Bull
	💍 [No matching marriage registration has been located]
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Official	Domestic Duties
Age	39	29
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 months	11 months
Marriage Place	Sacred Heart Church, Timaru
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Hurley, Roman Catholic

132

13 October 1925

John Augustus Mulligan
Ethel Ames Stocker

John Augustus Mulligan
Ethel Aves Stocker
💍 1925/10320

Widower 2.2.1920
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

34
23

Washdyke
Washdyke

5 years
Life

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Timaru

10184

13 October 1925

A. E. Reynolds, Registrar of Marriages

No	132
Date of Notice	13 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Augustus Mulligan	Ethel Ames Stocker
BDM Match (97%)	John Augustus Mulligan	Ethel Aves Stocker
	💍 1925/10320
Condition	Widower 2.2.1920	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Washdyke	Washdyke
Length of Residence	5 years	Life
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Timaru
Folio	10184
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1925
Officiating Minister	A. E. Reynolds, Registrar of Marriages

133

14 October 1925

Joseph William Turner
Ellen Margaret Mason

Joseph William Turner
Ellen Margaret Mason
💍 1925/10321

Widower 3.11.1919
Widow 20.12.1922

Wool and Skin Exporter
Teacher

55
40

Dunedin
Timaru

50 years
12 years

St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru

10185

14 October 1925

Rev. K. W. Andrew-Baxter, Anglican

No	133
Date of Notice	14 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph William Turner	Ellen Margaret Mason
	💍 1925/10321
Condition	Widower 3.11.1919	Widow 20.12.1922
Profession	Wool and Skin Exporter	Teacher
Age	55	40
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Timaru
Length of Residence	50 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru
Folio	10185
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. K. W. Andrew-Baxter, Anglican

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).