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 2265

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 December 1926 Registrar A. S. Sewell

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

1 October 1926

Gordon Angus Cameron
Ethel Linda Neal

Gordon Angus Cameron
Ethel Linda Neal
💍 1926/8943

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

21
20

Seddon
Seddon

21 years
4 years

Church of The Epiphany, Seddon

10240

Thomas Neal - Father

1 October 1926

Rev. O. J. Kimberley, Church of England

No	75
Date of Notice	1 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Angus Cameron	Ethel Linda Neal
	💍 1926/8943
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Seddon	Seddon
Length of Residence	21 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Church of The Epiphany, Seddon
Folio	10240
Consent	Thomas Neal - Father
Date of Certificate	1 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. J. Kimberley, Church of England

6 October 1926

Leonard Stanley Holdaway
Miriam Alice Hammond

Leonard Stanley Holdaway
Miriam Alice Hammond
💍 1926/8944

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

39
29

Blenheim
Fairhall, Blenheim

39 years
29 years

Methodist Church, Blenheim

10241

6 October 1926

Rev. William Grigg, Methodist

No	76
Date of Notice	6 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Stanley Holdaway	Miriam Alice Hammond
	💍 1926/8944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	39	29
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Fairhall, Blenheim
Length of Residence	39 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Blenheim
Folio	10241
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Grigg, Methodist

7 October 1926

Henry George Leefill
Olive Nanette Lefford

Henry George Gledhill
Olive Nanette Lyford
💍 1926/8945

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm manager
Domestic Duties

21
19

Blenheim
Blenheim

21 years
19 years

Methodist Church, Blenheim

10242

Phoebe Lyford - mother

7 October 1926

Rev. William Grigg, Methodist

No	77
Date of Notice	7 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry George Leefill	Olive Nanette Lefford
BDM Match (86%)	Henry George Gledhill	Olive Nanette Lyford
	💍 1926/8945
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm manager	Domestic Duties
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	21 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Blenheim
Folio	10242
Consent	Phoebe Lyford - mother
Date of Certificate	7 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Grigg, Methodist

11 October 1926

Leonard Joseph Healey
Lilian Monica Strickland

Leonard Joseph Healy
Lilian Monica Strickland
💍 1926/8946

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Milliner

27
24

Blenheim
Blenheim

27 years
24 years

St Mary's Church, Blenheim

10243

11 October 1926

Rev. Dean John Richard Holley, Roman Catholic

No	78
Date of Notice	11 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Joseph Healey	Lilian Monica Strickland
BDM Match (98%)	Leonard Joseph Healy	Lilian Monica Strickland
	💍 1926/8946
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Milliner
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	27 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Blenheim
Folio	10243
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dean John Richard Holley, Roman Catholic

14 October 1926

Francis Talbot Drake
Eileen Agnes O'Sullivan

Francis Talbot Drake
Eileen Agnes O'Sullivan
💍 1926/8947

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

28
23

Tuamarina
Tuamarina

28 years
23 years

Tuamarina Catholic Church, Tuamarina

10244

14 October 1926

Rev. Dean John Richard Holley, Roman Catholic

No	79
Date of Notice	14 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Talbot Drake	Eileen Agnes O'Sullivan
	💍 1926/8947
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Tuamarina	Tuamarina
Length of Residence	28 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Tuamarina Catholic Church, Tuamarina
Folio	10244
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dean John Richard Holley, Roman Catholic

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).