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 2381

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1926 Registrar [illegible]

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

12 July 1926

Fred Bullin
Muriel Esther Burch

Fred Bullin
Muriel Esther Burch
💍 1926/5834

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

33
25

Nelson
Nelson

1 day
9 weeks

Congregational Church, Nelson

7611

12 July 1926

Rev. Ralph, Congregational

No	55
Date of Notice	12 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred Bullin	Muriel Esther Burch
	💍 1926/5834
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	1 day	9 weeks
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Nelson
Folio	7611
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ralph, Congregational

13 July 1926

George Alfred James Thomas
Irene May Gough

George Alfred James Thomas
Irene May Gough
💍 1926/5835

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

26
21

Nelson
Nelson

4 years
13 years

All Saints Church of England, Nelson

7612

13 July 1926

Rev. John R. Dart, Church of England

No	56
Date of Notice	13 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alfred James Thomas	Irene May Gough
	💍 1926/5835
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 years	13 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England, Nelson
Folio	7612
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. John R. Dart, Church of England

19 July 1926

Kenneth Vernon Lines
Viva Etholie Best

Kenneth Vernon Lines
Viva Elholie Best
💍 1926/5836

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

26
28

Brightwater
Nelson

3 days
3 days

Residence of Mt Best, Nile Street, East Nelson

7613

19 July 1926

Rev. P. N. Knight, Methodist

No	57
Date of Notice	19 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth Vernon Lines	Viva Etholie Best
BDM Match (97%)	Kenneth Vernon Lines	Viva Elholie Best
	💍 1926/5836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Brightwater	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mt Best, Nile Street, East Nelson
Folio	7613
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. N. Knight, Methodist

19 July 1926

Albert Barrett Nicholas
Netta Millar

Albert Barrett Nicholas
Netta Millar
💍 1926/5837

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraph Lineman
Book Binder

33
26

Nelson
Nelson

1 week
26 years

The Cathedral Church of England, Nelson

7614

19 July 1926

Rev. J. B. Lawrence, Church of England

No	58
Date of Notice	19 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Barrett Nicholas	Netta Millar
	💍 1926/5837
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraph Lineman	Book Binder
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	1 week	26 years
Marriage Place	The Cathedral Church of England, Nelson
Folio	7614
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Lawrence, Church of England

21 July 1926

James Arthur Gilchrist Trask
Doris Louise Bertram

James Arthur Gilchrist Trask
Doris Louise Bertram
💍 1926/5838

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Tracer

20
24

Nelson
Nelson

30 years
5 years

Presbyterian Church, Nelson

7615

21 July 1926

Rev. James McNeill, Presbyterian

No	59
Date of Notice	21 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Arthur Gilchrist Trask	Doris Louise Bertram
	💍 1926/5838
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Tracer
Age	20	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	30 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Nelson
Folio	7615
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. James McNeill, 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).