Intentions to Marry, 1926 Rangiriri to Whangamomona

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840538, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1926 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.

1926c contains pages 947-1388, covering districts from Rangiriri to Whangamomona

Page 1013

District of Tauranga Quarter ending 30 September 1926 Registrar J. Cameron

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

5 July 1926

Denis Aquila Ivory
Vera Florence Meikle

Denis Aquila Ivory
Vera Florence Meckle
💍 1926/6891

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist
Domestic Duties

34
25

Tauranga
Tauranga

3 1/2 years
3 1/2 years

Presbyterian Church, Tauranga

7039

5 July 1926

Rev. J. H. Smyth, Presbyterian

No	18
Date of Notice	5 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Aquila Ivory	Vera Florence Meikle
BDM Match (98%)	Denis Aquila Ivory	Vera Florence Meckle
	💍 1926/6891
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist	Domestic Duties
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Tauranga	Tauranga
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	3 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tauranga
Folio	7039
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Smyth, Presbyterian

6 July 1926

James Lomax
Emma Riches

James Lomax
Emma Riches
💍 1926/6892

Widower (14th October 1923)
Widow (14th January 1910)

Farmer
Domestic Duties

71
70

Tauranga
Tauranga

3 years
4 years

In the residence of Alexander Riches, Otumoetai, Tauranga

7040

6 July 1926

Rev. R. Horn, Baptist

No	19
Date of Notice	6 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Lomax	Emma Riches
	💍 1926/6892
Condition	Widower (14th October 1923)	Widow (14th January 1910)
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	71	70
Dwelling Place	Tauranga	Tauranga
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Alexander Riches, Otumoetai, Tauranga
Folio	7040
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Horn, Baptist

9 July 1926

Albert James Levis
Annie Laura Nichols

Albert James Levis
Annie Laura Nichols
💍 1926/6893

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Accountant

27
26

Paengaroa
Gatepa

13 years

Church of England, Gatepa

7041

9 July 1926

Rev. A. P. Hall, Church of England

No	20
Date of Notice	9 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert James Levis	Annie Laura Nichols
	💍 1926/6893
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Accountant
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Paengaroa	Gatepa
Length of Residence		13 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Gatepa
Folio	7041
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. P. Hall, Church of England

24 July 1926

Isaac Saward Youngman
Zella Catherine Mary Kiddie

Isaac Saward Youngman
Zilla Catherine Mary Kiddie
💍 1926/6894

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

33
24

Mt Maunganui
Gatepa

14 years

Presbyterian Church, Tauranga

7042

24 July 1926

Rev. J. H. Smyth, Presbyterian

No	21
Date of Notice	24 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Saward Youngman	Zella Catherine Mary Kiddie
BDM Match (98%)	Isaac Saward Youngman	Zilla Catherine Mary Kiddie
	💍 1926/6894
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Mt Maunganui	Gatepa
Length of Residence		14 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tauranga
Folio	7042
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Smyth, Presbyterian

29 July 1926

Claude Alan Jordan
Eleanor Henrietta Elizabeth Tobin

Claude Alan Jordan
Eleanor Henrietta Elizabeth Tobin
💍 1926/6895

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

35
34

Oropi
Tauranga

5 years
2 years

Church of England, Tauranga

7043

27 July 1926

Rev. A. P. Hall, Church of England

No	22
Date of Notice	29 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude Alan Jordan	Eleanor Henrietta Elizabeth Tobin
	💍 1926/6895
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Oropi	Tauranga
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Tauranga
Folio	7043
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. P. Hall, Church of England

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).