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 2709

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1926

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

845

6 October 1926

Francis Henry Sincock
Martha Maria Sincock

Francis Henry Sincock
Martha Maria Sincock
💍 1926/10664

Previously married 15 June 1908 at Christchurch
Previously married 17 June 1908 at Christchurch

Freezing works employee

57
59

Sockburn
Sockburn

Residence of Rev. N. J. Odell, 67 Broughton Street, Sydenham

8977

6 October 1926

Rev. N. J. Odell, Methodist

No	845
Date of Notice	6 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Henry Sincock	Martha Maria Sincock
	💍 1926/10664
Condition	Previously married 15 June 1908 at Christchurch	Previously married 17 June 1908 at Christchurch
Profession	Freezing works employee
Age	57	59
Dwelling Place	Sockburn	Sockburn
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. N. J. Odell, 67 Broughton Street, Sydenham
Folio	8977
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. J. Odell, Methodist

846

6 October 1926

Leonard Owen Bellette
Grace Evelyn Benson

Leonard Owen Bellette
Grace Evelyn Benson
💍 1926/10671

Widower 26 September 1921
Divorced Decree Absolute 22 May 1924

Builder

36
26

Riccarton
Riccarton

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

8978

6 October 1926

Registrar

No	846
Date of Notice	6 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Owen Bellette	Grace Evelyn Benson
	💍 1926/10671
Condition	Widower 26 September 1921	Divorced Decree Absolute 22 May 1924
Profession	Builder
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	8978
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Registrar

847

5 October 1926

Joseph Hetherington
Elizabeth Joseph

Joseph Hetherington
Elizabeth Joseph
💍 1926/10672

Widower 23 July 1925
Widow 14 July 1916

Motor Carrier

50
48

Spreydon
Riccarton

Methodist Parsonage, 336 Selwyn Street, Addington

8979

5 October 1926

A. Liversedge, Methodist

No	847
Date of Notice	5 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Hetherington	Elizabeth Joseph
	💍 1926/10672
Condition	Widower 23 July 1925	Widow 14 July 1916
Profession	Motor Carrier
Age	50	48
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Riccarton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage, 336 Selwyn Street, Addington
Folio	8979
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1926
Officiating Minister	A. Liversedge, Methodist

848

5 October 1926

David Alexander Busch
Collie Smith

David Alexander Busch
Mollie Smith
💍 1926/10673

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer

23
23

Woolston
Amberley

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

8980

5 October 1926

Deputy Registrar

No	848
Date of Notice	5 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Alexander Busch	Collie Smith
BDM Match (96%)	David Alexander Busch	Mollie Smith
	💍 1926/10673
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Amberley
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	8980
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1926
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

849

8 October 1926

Stanley Joseph Bertie Hargrove
Rita Ayling

Stanley Joseph Bertie Bargrove
Rita Ayling
💍 1926/10674

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

33
26

New Brighton
New Brighton

St. Faith's, Christchurch

8981

8 October 1926

J. A. Hamilton, Anglican

No	849
Date of Notice	8 October 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Joseph Bertie Hargrove	Rita Ayling
BDM Match (98%)	Stanley Joseph Bertie Bargrove	Rita Ayling
	💍 1926/10674
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	New Brighton	New Brighton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	St. Faith's, Christchurch
Folio	8981
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1926
Officiating Minister	J. A. Hamilton, Anglican

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).