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 2527

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 1926 Registrar B. W. C. [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

8 July 1926

Francis Roland Jaques
Margaret O'Reilly

Francis Roland Jaques
Margaret OReilly
💍 1926/7108

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Waitress

27
25

Ashburton
Ashburton

1 month
1 month

Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton

7684

8 July 1926

Very Rev. Dean O'Connell, Roman Catholic

No	28
Date of Notice	8 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Roland Jaques	Margaret O'Reilly
BDM Match (97%)	Francis Roland Jaques	Margaret OReilly
	💍 1926/7108
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Waitress
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	1 month	1 month
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton
Folio	7684
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean O'Connell, Roman Catholic

14 July 1926

Daniel Denuchy
Thecla (Thecla) Krenies McKendry

Daniel Dennehy
Thecla Irenius McKendry
💍 1926/7085

Bachelor
Spinster

Flax killer
Domestic duties

54
51

Ashburton
Ashburton

21 years
21 years

Roman Catholic Church, Methven

7685

14 July 1926

Very Rev. J. W. Price, Roman Catholic

No	29
Date of Notice	14 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Denuchy	Thecla (Thecla) Krenies McKendry
BDM Match (76%)	Daniel Dennehy	Thecla Irenius McKendry
	💍 1926/7085
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flax killer	Domestic duties
Age	54	51
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	21 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Methven
Folio	7685
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. W. Price, Roman Catholic

16 July 1926

William Benjamin Hendy
Winifred Bernice Mary Bennison

William Benjamin Lundy
Winifred Bernice Mary Bennison
💍 1926/5966

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

30
32

Ashburton
Christchurch

30 years
2 months

St. Matthews Church, St. Albans

7994

16 July 1926

Rev. H. A. S. Hamilton, Church of England

No	30
Date of Notice	16 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Benjamin Hendy	Winifred Bernice Mary Bennison
BDM Match (95%)	William Benjamin Lundy	Winifred Bernice Mary Bennison
	💍 1926/5966
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	30	32
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 years	2 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, St. Albans
Folio	7994
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. S. Hamilton, Church of England

24 July 1926

David Dunlay
Margaret Jane McBride

David Dunlay
Margaret Jane McBride
💍 1926/7086

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruit grower
Domestic duties

33
38

Ashburton
Ashburton

4 days
4 days

Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton

7686

24 July 1926

Very Rev. Dean O'Connell, Roman Catholic

No	31
Date of Notice	24 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Dunlay	Margaret Jane McBride
	💍 1926/7086
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruit grower	Domestic duties
Age	33	38
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton
Folio	7686
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean O'Connell, Roman Catholic

28 July 1926

Walter Henry Ford
Margaret Cecilia Olive

Walter Henry Ford
Margaret Cecilia Olive
💍 1926/7087

Widower
Widow

Contractor
Domestic duties

36
42

Ashburton
Ashburton

2 months
2 months

Office of the Registrar, Ashburton

7687

28 July 1926

W. W. White, Registrar

No	32
Date of Notice	28 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Ford	Margaret Cecilia Olive
	💍 1926/7087
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Contractor	Domestic duties
Age	36	42
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Ashburton
Folio	7687
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1926
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

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).