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 2476

District of Hokitika Quarter ending 30 September 1926 Registrar H. G. T. Cole

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

16 August 1926

William Robert Thomas Leary
Sri Amokura Pihawai West

William Robert Thomas Feary
Iri Amokura Pihawai West
💍 1926/5920

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Platelayer
Domestic

27
28

Arahura
Arahura

2 days
28 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Hokitika

7671

16 August 1926

Mr. H. G. T. Cole, Registrar of Marriages

No	30
Date of Notice	16 August 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robert Thomas Leary	Sri Amokura Pihawai West
BDM Match (96%)	William Robert Thomas Feary	Iri Amokura Pihawai West
	💍 1926/5920
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Platelayer	Domestic
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Arahura	Arahura
Length of Residence	2 days	28 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Hokitika
Folio	7671
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1926
Officiating Minister	Mr. H. G. T. Cole, Registrar of Marriages

17 August 1926

Sydney Alfred Cropp
Kathie Noble Urquhart

Sydney Alfred Cropp
Kathie Noble Urquhart
💍 1926/5921

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Clerk

27
21

Koiterangi
Hokitika

27 years
5 years

National Bank Private Residence, Hokitika

7672

17 August 1926

Rev. Bruce Adam, Presbyterian

No	31
Date of Notice	17 August 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Alfred Cropp	Kathie Noble Urquhart
	💍 1926/5921
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Clerk
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Koiterangi	Hokitika
Length of Residence	27 years	5 years
Marriage Place	National Bank Private Residence, Hokitika
Folio	7672
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. Bruce Adam, Presbyterian

2 September 1926

John Lancelot Menzies
Florence Sarah Stanyer

John Lancelot Menzies
Florence Sarah Stanyer
💍 1926/5922

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrical Engineer
Cook

40
29

Hokitika
Hokitika

5 years
18 months

All Saints Anglican Church, Hokitika

7673

2 September 1926

Rev. J. Perkins, Anglican

No	32
Date of Notice	2 September 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lancelot Menzies	Florence Sarah Stanyer
	💍 1926/5922
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrical Engineer	Cook
Age	40	29
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Hokitika
Length of Residence	5 years	18 months
Marriage Place	All Saints Anglican Church, Hokitika
Folio	7673
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Perkins, Anglican

13 September 1926

Frank Longshaw
Hester Evelyn Wogan

Frank Longshaw
Hester Evelyn Wogan
💍 1926/5923

Bachelor
Spinster

Building Supervisor
Clerk

35
30

Greymouth
Hokitika

17 months
30 years

Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church, Hokitika

7674

13 September 1926

Rev. J. W. Hayward, Presbyterian

No	33
Date of Notice	13 September 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Longshaw	Hester Evelyn Wogan
	💍 1926/5923
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Building Supervisor	Clerk
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Hokitika
Length of Residence	17 months	30 years
Marriage Place	Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church, Hokitika
Folio	7674
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Hayward, Presbyterian

29 September 1926

John David Kelly
Mary Elizabeth Maloney

John David Kelly
Mary Elizabeth Maloney
💍 1926/5924

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic

23
17

Woodstock
Woodstock

3 days
7 years

Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika

7675

John Maloney, Father

29 September 1926

Rev. D. Healy, Roman Catholic

No	34
Date of Notice	29 September 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John David Kelly	Mary Elizabeth Maloney
	💍 1926/5924
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Woodstock	Woodstock
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika
Folio	7675
Consent	John Maloney, Father
Date of Certificate	29 September 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Healy, Roman Catholic

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).