Intentions to Marry, 1926 Cust to Dunedin

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840542, 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.

1926g contains pages 2769-3198, covering districts from Cust to Dunedin

Page 2947

District of Waimate Quarter ending 30 June 1926 Registrar J. H. Mitchell

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

12 May 1926

Cyril Comer
Honorah Hickey

Cyril Comer
Honorah Hickey
💍 1926/5116

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Domestic

26
29

High Street, Waimate
Parsonage Road, Waimate

2 years 3 months
29 years

Residence of Mrs. C. Hickey, Parsonage Road, Waimate

5363

12 May 1926

Rev. Father J. F. O'Connor, Roman Catholic

No	8
Date of Notice	12 May 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril Comer	Honorah Hickey
	💍 1926/5116
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Domestic
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	High Street, Waimate	Parsonage Road, Waimate
Length of Residence	2 years 3 months	29 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. C. Hickey, Parsonage Road, Waimate
Folio	5363
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father J. F. O'Connor, Roman Catholic

12 June 1926

Edward Joseph Leonard
Ethel Elizabeth Gordon

Edward Joseph Leonard
Ethel Elizabeth Gordon
💍 1926/5117

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

39
32

Pentland Hills, Waimate
Otago

2 years
nil

St. Patrick's Church, Waimate

5364

12 June 1926

Rev. Father J. F. O'Connor, Roman Catholic

No	9
Date of Notice	12 June 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Joseph Leonard	Ethel Elizabeth Gordon
	💍 1926/5117
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	39	32
Dwelling Place	Pentland Hills, Waimate	Otago
Length of Residence	2 years	nil
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Waimate
Folio	5364
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father J. F. O'Connor, Roman Catholic

12 June 1926

Thomas Leonard Hayman
Melba Wills

Thomas Leonard Hayman
Melba Wills
💍 1926/5118

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Office Assistant

22
22

Studholme Junction
Waimate

22 years
22 years

St. Augustine's Church, Waimate

5365

12 June 1926

Rev. Canon P. J. Cocks, Church of England

No	10
Date of Notice	12 June 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Leonard Hayman	Melba Wills
	💍 1926/5118
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Office Assistant
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Studholme Junction	Waimate
Length of Residence	22 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Waimate
Folio	5365
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon P. J. Cocks, Church of England

14 June 1926

Arthur Charles Lavender
Edith Helen Maud Garland

Arthur Charles Lavender
Edith Helen Maud Garland
💍 1926/5119

Bachelor
Spinster

Insurance Agent
Secretary

25
24

Launceston, Tasmania
Waimate

nil
3 weeks

St. Augustine's Church, Waimate

5366

14 June 1926

Rev. Canon P. J. Cocks, Church of England

No	11
Date of Notice	14 June 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Charles Lavender	Edith Helen Maud Garland
	💍 1926/5119
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Insurance Agent	Secretary
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Launceston, Tasmania	Waimate
Length of Residence	nil	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Waimate
Folio	5366
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon P. J. Cocks, Church of England

16 June 1926

William John Wilson
Christina Helena Campbell

William John Wilson
Christina Helena Campbell
💍 1926/5120

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
29

Hook
Waituna

32 years
29 years

Presbyterian Church, Waimate

5367

16 June 1926

Rev. A. McNeur, Presbyterian

No	12
Date of Notice	16 June 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Wilson	Christina Helena Campbell
	💍 1926/5120
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Hook	Waituna
Length of Residence	32 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Waimate
Folio	5367
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. McNeur, 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).