Intentions to Marry, 1926 Kaikoura to Christchurch

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840541, 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.

1926f contains pages 2223-2768, covering districts from Kaikoura to Christchurch

Page 2229

District of Kaikoura Quarter ending 31 December 1926 Registrar G. J. Gaus

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

22 October 1926

Louis Richard Shadbolt
Cora Evelyn May Clemelt

Louis Richard Shadbolt
Cora Evelyn May Clemett
💍 1926/8358

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

25
20

Kaikoura
Kaikoura

6 years
26 years

Residence of William Henry Clemelt, Beach Road, Kaikoura

9602

William Henry Clemelt, Father

22 October 1926

Rev. J. G. S. Dunn, Presbyterian

No	8
Date of Notice	22 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis Richard Shadbolt	Cora Evelyn May Clemelt
BDM Match (98%)	Louis Richard Shadbolt	Cora Evelyn May Clemett
	💍 1926/8358
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Kaikoura	Kaikoura
Length of Residence	6 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Henry Clemelt, Beach Road, Kaikoura
Folio	9602
Consent	William Henry Clemelt, Father
Date of Certificate	22 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. S. Dunn, Presbyterian

29 October 1926

George Hurley
Florence Grace Downes

George Hurley
Florence Grace Downes
💍 1926/8911

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

19
20

The Shoas, Kekerangu
Kaikoura

1 year
20 years

St Peters Anglican Church, Kaikoura

10158

Edith Hurley (Parent), Frederick Manewaring Downes (Father)

29 October 1926

Rev. C. F. Saunders, Church of England

No	9
Date of Notice	29 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hurley	Florence Grace Downes
	💍 1926/8911
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	19	20
Dwelling Place	The Shoas, Kekerangu	Kaikoura
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	St Peters Anglican Church, Kaikoura
Folio	10158
Consent	Edith Hurley (Parent), Frederick Manewaring Downes (Father)
Date of Certificate	29 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. F. Saunders, Church of England

30 October 1926

Charles Thomas Edward Shinter
Clara Alberta Phyllis Gill

Charles Thomas Edward Hunter
Clara Alberta Phyllis Gill
💍 1926/8957

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Driver
Domestic Duties

25
17

Kaikoura
Kaikoura

24 years
17 years

Residence of Mr Edward Palmer, Mount Fyffe Road, Kaikoura

10230

Henry Albert Gill, Father

30 October 1926

Rev. J. G. S. Dunn, Presbyterian

No	10
Date of Notice	30 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Thomas Edward Shinter	Clara Alberta Phyllis Gill
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Thomas Edward Hunter	Clara Alberta Phyllis Gill
	💍 1926/8957
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	25	17
Dwelling Place	Kaikoura	Kaikoura
Length of Residence	24 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Edward Palmer, Mount Fyffe Road, Kaikoura
Folio	10230
Consent	Henry Albert Gill, Father
Date of Certificate	30 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. S. Dunn, Presbyterian

29 November 1926

William David Salveson
Christina Mae Hollands

William David Sabiston
Christina Mae Hollands
💍 1926/8958

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Shop Assistant

22
22

Kaikoura
Kaikoura

8 years
2.5 years

St Pauls Presbyterian Church, Kaikoura

10231

29 November 1926

Rev. J. G. S. Dunn, Presbyterian

No	11
Date of Notice	29 November 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William David Salveson	Christina Mae Hollands
BDM Match (91%)	William David Sabiston	Christina Mae Hollands
	💍 1926/8958
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Shop Assistant
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Kaikoura	Kaikoura
Length of Residence	8 years	2.5 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Presbyterian Church, Kaikoura
Folio	10231
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. S. Dunn, Presbyterian

2 December 1926

Albert Leonard Styles
Elizabeth Paneta

Albert Leonard Styles
Elizabeth Daneta
💍 1926/8959

Widower (14/3/1924)
Widow (21/8/1920)

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

36
30

Kaikoura
Mangamaunu

1 year
1 year

Office of Registrar, Births Deaths Marriages, Kaikoura

10232

2 December 1926

G. J. Gaus, Registrar, Kaikoura

No	12
Date of Notice	2 December 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Leonard Styles	Elizabeth Paneta
BDM Match (97%)	Albert Leonard Styles	Elizabeth Daneta
	💍 1926/8959
Condition	Widower (14/3/1924)	Widow (21/8/1920)
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	36	30
Dwelling Place	Kaikoura	Mangamaunu
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Births Deaths Marriages, Kaikoura
Folio	10232
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1926
Officiating Minister	G. J. Gaus, Registrar, Kaikoura

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).