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 2564

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

136

22 February 1926

Henry Burt
Valerie Florence Violet Chilies

Henry Buck
Valerie Florena Violet Chiles
💍 1926/1733

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

31
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
Life

Residence of Mr. G. W. Chiles, 112 Antigua Street, Christchurch

1235

22 February 1926

A. B. Kilroy, Presbyterian

No	136
Date of Notice	22 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Burt	Valerie Florence Violet Chilies
BDM Match (85%)	Henry Buck	Valerie Florena Violet Chiles
	💍 1926/1733
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. G. W. Chiles, 112 Antigua Street, Christchurch
Folio	1235
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1926
Officiating Minister	A. B. Kilroy, Presbyterian

137

22 February 1926

Harry Vane Lark
Angelina May Thompson

Harry Vane Lark
Angelina May Thompson
💍 1926/1734

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Clerk

29
18

Christchurch
St. Albans

3 days
3 weeks

Knox Church, Christchurch

1236

Charles Thompson, Father

22 February 1926

G. Lindsay, Presbyterian

No	137
Date of Notice	22 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Vane Lark	Angelina May Thompson
	💍 1926/1734
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Clerk
Age	29	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Christchurch
Folio	1236
Consent	Charles Thompson, Father
Date of Certificate	22 February 1926
Officiating Minister	G. Lindsay, Presbyterian

138

22 February 1926

Lawrence Mortimer Suckling
Dorothy Lois Rutland

Lawrence Mortimer Suckling
Dorothy Lois Rutland
💍 1926/1735

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic

25
19

Linwood
Linwood

5 years
Life

Residence of Mr. C. P. Rutland, 633 Cashel Street, Linwood

1237

Charles Percy Rutland, Father

22 February 1926

J. V. Jacobson, Presbyterian

No	138
Date of Notice	22 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Mortimer Suckling	Dorothy Lois Rutland
	💍 1926/1735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	5 years	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. C. P. Rutland, 633 Cashel Street, Linwood
Folio	1237
Consent	Charles Percy Rutland, Father
Date of Certificate	22 February 1926
Officiating Minister	J. V. Jacobson, Presbyterian

139

22 February 1926

William Percy Jarden
Alice Muriel Bird

William Percy Jarden
Alice Muriel Bird
💍 1926/1736

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Fireman

27
22

Opawa
Sydenham

Life
Life

Baptist Church, Colombo Street, Sydenham

1238

22 February 1926

J. K. Archer, Baptist

No	139
Date of Notice	22 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Percy Jarden	Alice Muriel Bird
	💍 1926/1736
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Fireman
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Sydenham
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Colombo Street, Sydenham
Folio	1238
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1926
Officiating Minister	J. K. Archer, Baptist

140

22 February 1926

Richard Herbert Hutchings
Annetta Eileen Williamson

Richard Herbert Hitchings
Annetta Eileen Williamson
💍 1926/1737

Bachelor
Spinster

Linotype Operator

23
24

Sydenham
Sydenham

Life
7 years

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

1239

22 February 1926

C. G. Mutter, Anglican

No	140
Date of Notice	22 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Herbert Hutchings	Annetta Eileen Williamson
BDM Match (98%)	Richard Herbert Hitchings	Annetta Eileen Williamson
	💍 1926/1737
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Linotype Operator
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	Life	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	1239
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1926
Officiating Minister	C. G. Mutter, Anglican

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).