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 2912

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1926 Registrar A. E. Reynolds

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

19 March 1926

William Henry Dellicar
Edith Sylvia Bolden

William Henry Dillicar
Edith Sylvia Bolden
💍 1926/1320

Bachelor
Spinster

Insurance agent
Saleswoman

29
23

Wellington
Timaru

3 years
3 days

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

2652

19 March 1926

Rev. B. G. Wilcox, Presbyterian

No	26
Date of Notice	19 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Dellicar	Edith Sylvia Bolden
BDM Match (98%)	William Henry Dillicar	Edith Sylvia Bolden
	💍 1926/1320
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Insurance agent	Saleswoman
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	2652
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. G. Wilcox, Presbyterian

20 March 1926

Arthur Douglas Harris
Kathleen Theodora Virginia Hind

Arthur Douglas Harris
Kathleen Theodora Virginia Hind
💍 1926/1321

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Teacher

28
26

Methven
Timaru

3 years
16 years

St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru

2653

20 March 1926

Rev. G. V. Gerard, Anglican

No	27
Date of Notice	20 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Douglas Harris	Kathleen Theodora Virginia Hind
	💍 1926/1321
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Teacher
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Methven	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Anglican Church, Timaru
Folio	2653
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. V. Gerard, Anglican

22 March 1926

Reginald Malthus
Grace Kay Scott

Reginald Malthus
Grace kay Scott
💍 1926/1322

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic

38
21

Lake Tekapo
Timaru

10 years
18 years

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

2654

22 March 1926

Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

No	28
Date of Notice	22 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Malthus	Grace Kay Scott
BDM Match (97%)	Reginald Malthus	Grace kay Scott
	💍 1926/1322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic
Age	38	21
Dwelling Place	Lake Tekapo	Timaru
Length of Residence	10 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	2654
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Hughes, Presbyterian

24 March 1926

Rupert Harold Lee
Nellie Irene Read

Rupert Harold Lee
Nellie Irene Read
💍 1926/1323

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Housemaid

21
22

Timaru
Timaru

6 weeks
6 weeks

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Timaru

2655

24 March 1926

A. E. Reynolds, Registrar

No	29
Date of Notice	24 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rupert Harold Lee	Nellie Irene Read
	💍 1926/1323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Housemaid
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 weeks	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Timaru
Folio	2655
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1926
Officiating Minister	A. E. Reynolds, Registrar

25 March 1926

Francis O'Donnell
Hannah O'Connor

Francis O'Connell
Hannah O'Connor
💍 1926/1300

Widower 4.7.1923
Widow 26.3.1920

Labourer
Domestic

45
38

Timaru
Timaru

10 years
6 years

Sacred Heart Church, Timaru

2656

25 March 1926

Rev. W. H. Hurley, Roman Catholic

No	30
Date of Notice	25 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis O'Donnell	Hannah O'Connor
BDM Match (97%)	Francis O'Connell	Hannah O'Connor
	💍 1926/1300
Condition	Widower 4.7.1923	Widow 26.3.1920
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	45	38
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	10 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Sacred Heart Church, Timaru
Folio	2656
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Hurley, Roman Catholic

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).