Intentions to Marry, 1920 Bay of Islands to Raglan

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840489, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1920 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.

1920b contains pages 471-938, covering districts from Bay of Islands to Raglan

Page 545

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 September 1920 Registrar H. E. Hill

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

104

3 July 1920

James Middleton
Janet Bartie

James Middleton
Janet Bartie
💍 1920/8063

Bachelor
Spinster Widow 24 May 1913

Carpenter
Nurse

34
36

Gisborne
Gisborne

6 years
6 years

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Gisborne

7778

3 July 1920

Rev. James Aitken Presbyterian

No	104
Date of Notice	3 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Middleton	Janet Bartie
	💍 1920/8063
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster Widow 24 May 1913
Profession	Carpenter	Nurse
Age	34	36
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Gisborne
Folio	7778
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Aitken Presbyterian

105

6 July 1920

Francis Maurice Clarke
Mary Jane Taylor

Francis Maurice Clarke
Mary Jane Taylor
💍 1920/8064

Bachelor
Spinster

Manager J. J. Niven & Co Wellington
Domestic Duties

23
22

Gisborne
Gisborne

4 days
17 years

Holy Trinity Church of England Gisborne

7779

6 July 1920

Rev. Horace Packe Church of England

No	105
Date of Notice	6 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Maurice Clarke	Mary Jane Taylor
	💍 1920/8064
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manager J. J. Niven & Co Wellington	Domestic Duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	4 days	17 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church of England Gisborne
Folio	7779
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Horace Packe Church of England

106

8 July 1920

Alfred Paul Herring
Minnie Elizabeth Jenkin

Alfred Paul Herring
Minnie Elizabeth Jenkin
💍 1920/8065

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Shop Assistant

34
32

Kaiteratahi Poverty Bay
Gisborne

20 months
4 years

Methodist Church Gisborne

7780

8 July 1920

Rev. William Herbert Emanuel Abbey Methodist

No	106
Date of Notice	8 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Paul Herring	Minnie Elizabeth Jenkin
	💍 1920/8065
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Shop Assistant
Age	34	32
Dwelling Place	Kaiteratahi Poverty Bay	Gisborne
Length of Residence	20 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Gisborne
Folio	7780
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Herbert Emanuel Abbey Methodist

107

10 July 1920

Robert Overend
Agnes Gibb Brownlie

Robert Overend
Agnes Gibb Brownlie
💍 1920/8066

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic duties

37
33

Gisborne
Gisborne

6 months
4 months

Holy Trinity Church of England Gisborne

7781

10 July 1920

Rev. Horace Packe Church of England

No	107
Date of Notice	10 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Overend	Agnes Gibb Brownlie
	💍 1920/8066
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic duties
Age	37	33
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	6 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church of England Gisborne
Folio	7781
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Horace Packe Church of England

108

12 July 1920

John Henry Evans
Lillian Eliza Ellen Walker

John Henry Evans
Lillian Eliza Ellen Walker
💍 1920/8067

Widower December 14th 1917
Divorced Decree absolute 5th July 1920 No 63 Gisborne District

Accountant
Fancy Goods Dealer

53
36

Gisborne
Gisborne

over 30 years
over 10 years

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Gisborne

7782

12 July 1920

Rev. James Aitken Presbyterian

No	108
Date of Notice	12 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Evans	Lillian Eliza Ellen Walker
	💍 1920/8067
Condition	Widower December 14th 1917	Divorced Decree absolute 5th July 1920 No 63 Gisborne District
Profession	Accountant	Fancy Goods Dealer
Age	53	36
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	over 30 years	over 10 years
Marriage Place	St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Gisborne
Folio	7782
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Aitken 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).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

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.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

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).