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 2858

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

29 April 1925

Bernard John McManus
Hannah Maria Sullivan

Bernard John McManus
Hannah Maria Sullivan
💍 1925/5198

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Typist

25
25

Greymouth
Timaru

3 months
5 years

Sacred Heart Church, Timaru

5061

29 April 1925

Rev. P. Finerty, Roman Catholic

No	56
Date of Notice	29 April 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard John McManus	Hannah Maria Sullivan
	💍 1925/5198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Typist
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Sacred Heart Church, Timaru
Folio	5061
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 April 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Finerty, Roman Catholic

30 April 1925

Ernest James Shaw
Adeline Laura McKinley

Ernest James Shaw
Adeline Laura McKinley
💍 1925/5199

Bachelor
Spinster

Jockey
Clerk

20
17

Washdyke
Timaru

1 year
1 week

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Timaru

5062

William Shaw, father; Donald George McKinley, father

30 April 1925

A. E. Reynolds, Registrar

No	57
Date of Notice	30 April 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest James Shaw	Adeline Laura McKinley
	💍 1925/5199
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jockey	Clerk
Age	20	17
Dwelling Place	Washdyke	Timaru
Length of Residence	1 year	1 week
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Timaru
Folio	5062
Consent	William Shaw, father; Donald George McKinley, father
Date of Certificate	30 April 1925
Officiating Minister	A. E. Reynolds, Registrar

4 May 1925

George Meredith
Agnes McClintock

George Meredith
Agnes McClintock
💍 1925/5200

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Telephone Operator

27
32

Timaru
Timaru

5 days
3 months

Chalmers Presbyterian Church Manse, Timaru

5063

4 May 1925

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	58
Date of Notice	4 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Meredith	Agnes McClintock
	💍 1925/5200
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Telephone Operator
Age	27	32
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church Manse, Timaru
Folio	5063
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

4 May 1925

James Keane
Jessie Blaikie

James Keane
Jessie Blaikie
💍 1925/5201

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic

26
27

Pleasant Point
Timaru

Life
3 years

Sacred Heart Church, Timaru

5064

4 May 1925

Rev. D. H. Hurley, Roman Catholic

No	59
Date of Notice	4 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Keane	Jessie Blaikie
	💍 1925/5201
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Point	Timaru
Length of Residence	Life	3 years
Marriage Place	Sacred Heart Church, Timaru
Folio	5064
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. H. Hurley, Roman Catholic

6 May 1925

Jack Cecil Ball
Frances Mabel Butler

Jack Cecil Ball
Frances Mabel Butler
💍 1925/5202

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Tailoress

23
21

Timaru
Timaru

16 years
14 years

Methodist Church, Woodland Street, Timaru

5065

6 May 1925

Rev. H. J. Odell, Methodist

No	60
Date of Notice	6 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jack Cecil Ball	Frances Mabel Butler
	💍 1925/5202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Tailoress
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	16 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Woodland Street, Timaru
Folio	5065
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Odell, Methodist

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).