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 2531

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 December 1926 Registrar J. O. O. O.

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

4 October 1926

James Edward Grice
Lilian Pearl Alexander

James Edward Grice
Lilian Pearl Alexander
💍 1926/9105

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic duties

17
19

Ashburton
Ashburton

17 years
19 years

Walsam Maternity Home, Ashburton

10380

George Grice, father of minor; Thomas Henry Alexander, father of minor

4 October 1926

Rev. A. G. Irvine, M.A., Presbyterian

No	45
Date of Notice	4 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Edward Grice	Lilian Pearl Alexander
	💍 1926/9105
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	17	19
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	17 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Walsam Maternity Home, Ashburton
Folio	10380
Consent	George Grice, father of minor; Thomas Henry Alexander, father of minor
Date of Certificate	4 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. G. Irvine, M.A., Presbyterian

5 October 1926

Trevor Carlton De Latour
Phyllis May Prattley

Bachelor
Spinster

Postman
Domestic duties

23
17

Ashburton
Ashburton

14 days
17 years

Methodist Church, Ashburton

10381

Elizabeth Larsen, formerly Prattley, adopting mother of minor

5 October 1926

Rev. R. B. Tinsley, Methodist

No	46
Date of Notice	5 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Trevor Carlton De Latour	Phyllis May Prattley
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postman	Domestic duties
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	14 days	17 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Ashburton
Folio	10381
Consent	Elizabeth Larsen, formerly Prattley, adopting mother of minor
Date of Certificate	5 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. B. Tinsley, Methodist

13 October 1926

John James Mulligan
Elizabeth Roberts Corbett

John James Mulligan
Elizabeth Roberts Corbett
💍 1926/9106

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

34
27

Ashburton
Ashburton

34 years
27 years

Presbyterian Church, Mayfield

10382

13 October 1926

Rev. A. D. Kirkland, Presbyterian

No	47
Date of Notice	13 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Mulligan	Elizabeth Roberts Corbett
	💍 1926/9106
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	34	27
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	34 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Mayfield
Folio	10382
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. D. Kirkland, Presbyterian

18 October 1926

Samuel Alexander
Ethel Boddington

Samuel Alexander
Ethel Boddington
💍 1926/9107

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Accountant
Dressmaker

58
37

Ashburton
Christchurch

2 years
17 years

Bible Hall, Madras Street, Christchurch

10383

18 October 1926

Mr. Thomas Ebenezer Boddington, Christadelphians

No	48
Date of Notice	18 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Alexander	Ethel Boddington
	💍 1926/9107
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Accountant	Dressmaker
Age	58	37
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Bible Hall, Madras Street, Christchurch
Folio	10383
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Mr. Thomas Ebenezer Boddington, Christadelphians

19 October 1926

Thomas Taylor
Sara Edmondson McLeod

Thomas Taylor
Sara Edmondson McLeod
💍 1926/9108

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

53
48

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 months
1 month

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

10384

19 October 1926

Rev. A. G. Irvine, M.A., Presbyterian

No	49
Date of Notice	19 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Taylor	Sara Edmondson McLeod
	💍 1926/9108
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	53	48
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 months	1 month
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	10384
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. G. Irvine, M.A., Presbyterian

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).