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 2862

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 June 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

2 June 1925

William Nixon
Ethel Mary Williamson

William Nixon
Ethel May Williamson
💍 1925/5242

Bachelor
Widow (15.6.1916)

Sheepfarmer
Domestic Duties

39
45

Timaru
Fairlie

3 days
3 years

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

5081

2 June 1925

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	76
Date of Notice	2 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Nixon	Ethel Mary Williamson
BDM Match (98%)	William Nixon	Ethel May Williamson
	💍 1925/5242
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (15.6.1916)
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic Duties
Age	39	45
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Fairlie
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	5081
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

2 June 1925

Harold Unwin Gibbs
Edith Muriel Finlay

Harold Unwin Gibbs
Edith Muriel Finlay
💍 1925/5243

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Milliner

19
19

Washdyke
Timaru

10 years
4 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Timaru

5082

Charlotte Elizabeth Dawe (Mother), George Finlay (Father)

2 June 1925

A. E. Reynolds, Registrar of Marriages

No	77
Date of Notice	2 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Unwin Gibbs	Edith Muriel Finlay
	💍 1925/5243
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Milliner
Age	19	19
Dwelling Place	Washdyke	Timaru
Length of Residence	10 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Timaru
Folio	5082
Consent	Charlotte Elizabeth Dawe (Mother), George Finlay (Father)
Date of Certificate	2 June 1925
Officiating Minister	A. E. Reynolds, Registrar of Marriages

4 June 1925

Alfred George Honeybone
Ivy Brenda Good

Alfred George Honeybone
Ivy Brenda Good
💍 1925/5244

Bachelor
Widow (1.7.1922)

Railway Fireman
Domestic Duties

21
22

Timaru
Timaru

15 months
21 years

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

5083

4 June 1925

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	78
Date of Notice	4 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred George Honeybone	Ivy Brenda Good
	💍 1925/5244
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (1.7.1922)
Profession	Railway Fireman	Domestic Duties
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	15 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	5083
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

8 June 1925

Reginald Alfred Bach
Ella Kathleen Thompson

Reginald Alfred Bach
Ella Kathleen Thompson
💍 1925/5222

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Supervisor
No occupation

48
28

Timaru
Timaru

18 months
8 years

Highfield Presbyterian Church, Timaru

5084

8 June 1925

Rev. A. Begg, Presbyterian

No	79
Date of Notice	8 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Alfred Bach	Ella Kathleen Thompson
	💍 1925/5222
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Supervisor	No occupation
Age	48	28
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	18 months	8 years
Marriage Place	Highfield Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	5084
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Begg, Presbyterian

9 June 1925

William Earl Home
Mary Gibson

William Earl Home
Mary Gibson
💍 1925/5223

Widower (29.4.1922)
Widow (25.12.1917)

Labourer
Domestic Duties

52
36

Timaru
Pareora West

36 years
18 years

Chalmers Presbyterian Church Manse, Timaru

5085

9 June 1925

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	80
Date of Notice	9 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Earl Home	Mary Gibson
	💍 1925/5223
Condition	Widower (29.4.1922)	Widow (25.12.1917)
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	52	36
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Pareora West
Length of Residence	36 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church Manse, Timaru
Folio	5085
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, 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).