Intentions to Marry, 1926 Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840543, 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.

1926h contains pages 3199-3612, covering districts from Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Page 3373

District of Tokomairiro Quarter ending 31 March 1926 Registrar J. S. Jordan

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 January 1926

Thomas McIntosh
Margaret Elizabeth Jane Wilson

Thomas McIntosh
Margaret Elizabeth Jane Wilson
💍 1926/2274

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

27
24

Milton
Milton

Life
Life

Residence of Mr J Wilson, Albert Street, Milton

2758

12 January 1926

Rev A Simmonds, Presbyterian

No	1
Date of Notice	12 January 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas McIntosh	Margaret Elizabeth Jane Wilson
	💍 1926/2274
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J Wilson, Albert Street, Milton
Folio	2758
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev A Simmonds, Presbyterian

18 February 1926

Lawrence O'Connell
Margaret Downie McDonald

Lawrence O'Connell
Margaret Downie McDonald
💍 1926/3570

Maurice O'Connell
Delia McDonald
💍 1926/5109

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

38
22

Awatea
Milton

-
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Milton

2961

18 February 1926

Rev Father M Howard, Roman Catholic

No	2
Date of Notice	18 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence O'Connell	Margaret Downie McDonald
	💍 1926/3570
BDM Match (62%)	Maurice O'Connell	Delia McDonald
	💍 1926/5109
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	38	22
Dwelling Place	Awatea	Milton
Length of Residence	-	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Milton
Folio	2961
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev Father M Howard, Roman Catholic

6 March 1926

Donald Millin
Annie Catherine Martin

Donald Millin
Annie Catherine Martin
💍 1926/2275

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Duties

29
23

Timaru
Milton

-
6 days

Presbyterian Church, Milton

2759

6 March 1926

Rev A McNeur, Presbyterian

No	3
Date of Notice	6 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Millin	Annie Catherine Martin
	💍 1926/2275
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Milton
Length of Residence	-	6 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Milton
Folio	2759
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev A McNeur, Presbyterian

9 March 1926

Ormond Robert Marshall
Pearl Douglas Taylor

Ormond Robert Marshall
Pearl Douglas Taylor
💍 1926/2252

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

23
20

Table Hill, Milton
Table Hill, Milton

1 week
Life

Residence of Mr Joseph Taylor, Table Hill, Milton

2760

Joseph Taylor, Father

9 March 1926

Rev A Simmonds, Presbyterian

No	4
Date of Notice	9 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ormond Robert Marshall	Pearl Douglas Taylor
	💍 1926/2252
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Table Hill, Milton	Table Hill, Milton
Length of Residence	1 week	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Joseph Taylor, Table Hill, Milton
Folio	2760
Consent	Joseph Taylor, Father
Date of Certificate	9 March 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev A Simmonds, Presbyterian

30 March 1926

Harold Henry Osborne
Jessie Jean Abercrombie

Harold Henry Osborne
Jessie Jean Abercrombie
💍 1926/2253

Bachelor
Spinster

Manufacturers Representative
Domestic Duties

32
36

Milton
Dunedin

3 days
-

Presbyterian Church, Milton

2761

30 March 1926

Rev. A McNeur, Presbyterian

No	5
Date of Notice	30 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Henry Osborne	Jessie Jean Abercrombie
	💍 1926/2253
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manufacturers Representative	Domestic Duties
Age	32	36
Dwelling Place	Milton	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	-
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Milton
Folio	2761
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 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).