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 2580

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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

216

15 March 1926

Harold Grant Hastie
Elizabeth Robertson Ogilvy Paterson

Harold Grant Hastie
Elizabeth Robertson Ogilvy Paterson
💍 1926/2751

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
20

Sockburn
Christchurch

6 years
11 months

St. Andrew's Church

1310

30 March 1926

Rev. L. D. Webster, Presbyterian

No	216
Date of Notice	15 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Grant Hastie	Elizabeth Robertson Ogilvy Paterson
	💍 1926/2751
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Sockburn	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	11 months
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church
Folio	1310
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. D. Webster, Presbyterian

217

16 March 1926

Alexander George Bennett
Kathleen Mary Mark

Alexander George Bennett
Kathleen Mary Mark
💍 1926/2752

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist

19
20

Woolston
Christchurch

Life
7 years

Wesley Church, Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

1311

Alfred Crispin Bennett, Father; Hannah Mark, Mother

16 March 1926

E. D. Patchett, Methodist

No	217
Date of Notice	16 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander George Bennett	Kathleen Mary Mark
	💍 1926/2752
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist
Age	19	20
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	7 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church, Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	1311
Consent	Alfred Crispin Bennett, Father; Hannah Mark, Mother
Date of Certificate	16 March 1926
Officiating Minister	E. D. Patchett, Methodist

218

16 March 1926

Louis Ideson Bennett
Florence Edith Warren

Louis Ideson Bennett
Florence Edith Warren
💍 1926/2753

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi Driver

23
24

Christchurch
Spreydon

15 years
20 years

Residence of K. E. Warren, 19 Cheviot Street, Spreydon

1312

16 March 1926

P. R. Paris, Methodist

No	218
Date of Notice	16 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis Ideson Bennett	Florence Edith Warren
	💍 1926/2753
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi Driver
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Spreydon
Length of Residence	15 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of K. E. Warren, 19 Cheviot Street, Spreydon
Folio	1312
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1926
Officiating Minister	P. R. Paris, Methodist

219

17 March 1926

Arthur Butler Wilmott
Thelma Audrey Yarrall

Arthur Butler Wilmott
Thelma Audrey Yarrall
💍 1926/2754

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Employee

22
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
3 1/2 years

St. Faith's Church, New Brighton

1313

17 March 1926

S. Hamilton, Anglican

No	219
Date of Notice	17 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Butler Wilmott	Thelma Audrey Yarrall
	💍 1926/2754
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Employee
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	3 1/2 years
Marriage Place	St. Faith's Church, New Brighton
Folio	1313
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 March 1926
Officiating Minister	S. Hamilton, Anglican

220

17 March 1926

August Phillip Christensen
Leonora Ullrich

August Phillip Christensen
Leonora Ullrich
💍 1926/2755

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

33
26

Fendalton
Papanui

4 years
Life

Lutheran Church, Worcester Street, Christchurch

1314

17 March 1926

H. Bruhn, Evangelical Lutheran

No	220
Date of Notice	17 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	August Phillip Christensen	Leonora Ullrich
	💍 1926/2755
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	Papanui
Length of Residence	4 years	Life
Marriage Place	Lutheran Church, Worcester Street, Christchurch
Folio	1314
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 March 1926
Officiating Minister	H. Bruhn, Evangelical Lutheran

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).