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 2528

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 1926 Registrar J. R. [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

30 July 1926

David Park Kern
Agnes Hume Davison

David Park Kerr
Agnes Hume Davison
💍 1926/7088

Widower
Widow

retired Farmer
domestic duties

76
78

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 months
40 years

At the dwelling of William Stockdale, Allenton

7688

30 July 1926

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

No	33
Date of Notice	30 July 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Park Kern	Agnes Hume Davison
BDM Match (97%)	David Park Kerr	Agnes Hume Davison
	💍 1926/7088
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	retired Farmer	domestic duties
Age	76	78
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 months	40 years
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of William Stockdale, Allenton
Folio	7688
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. G. Irvine, M.A., Presbyterian

6 August 1926

Raymond Stanley Skilling
Victoria Venus Isobel Wesley

Raymond Stanley Skilling
Victoria Venus Isobel Wesley
💍 1926/7089

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

19
24

Ashburton
Ashburton

19 years
10 years

Office of the Registrar, Ashburton

7689

William Cochrane Skilling, father of minor

6 August 1926

W. W. White, Registrar

No	34
Date of Notice	6 August 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Raymond Stanley Skilling	Victoria Venus Isobel Wesley
	💍 1926/7089
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	19	24
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	19 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Ashburton
Folio	7689
Consent	William Cochrane Skilling, father of minor
Date of Certificate	6 August 1926
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

2 August 1926

John Richards Evan Clayton
Elizabeth Thelma Brown

John Richard Evan Clayton
Elizabeth Thelma Brown
💍 1926/7090

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Official
domestic duties

34
33

Ashburton
Ashburton

5 years
33 years

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

7690

2 August 1926

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

No	35
Date of Notice	2 August 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Richards Evan Clayton	Elizabeth Thelma Brown
BDM Match (98%)	John Richard Evan Clayton	Elizabeth Thelma Brown
	💍 1926/7090
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Official	domestic duties
Age	34	33
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 years	33 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	7690
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. G. Irvine, M.A., Presbyterian

18 August 1926

Victor Charles Hume
Alma Elizabeth Dinah Creamer

Victor Charles Hume
Alma Elizabeth Dinah Creamer
💍 1926/7091

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

21
23

Ashburton
Ashburton

21 years
2 years

St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton

7691

18 August 1926

Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

No	36
Date of Notice	18 August 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Charles Hume	Alma Elizabeth Dinah Creamer
	💍 1926/7091
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	21 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	7691
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

25 August 1926

Norman William Corbett
Margaret Christina McKinney

Norman William Corbett
Margaret Christina McKenney
💍 1926/7092

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

35
28

Ashburton
Palmerston South

35 years
28 years

Presbyterian Church, Palmerston South

7692

25 August 1926

Rev. John Chisholm, Presbyterian

No	37
Date of Notice	25 August 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman William Corbett	Margaret Christina McKinney
BDM Match (98%)	Norman William Corbett	Margaret Christina McKenney
	💍 1926/7092
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	35	28
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Palmerston South
Length of Residence	35 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Palmerston South
Folio	7692
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Chisholm, Presbyterian

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).