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 559

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 December 1920 Registrar H. 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

159

5 October 1920

John Bailey Flegg
Rose Marion Alderson

John Bailey Clegg
Rose Marion Alderson
💍 1920/11551

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

45
40

Gisborne
Gisborne

1 year
4 days

The Residence of Mr. H. J. T. Tombleson Otoko

10723

5 October 1920

Rev. Edgar Alan Hunt, Church of England, Matawai

No	159
Date of Notice	5 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bailey Flegg	Rose Marion Alderson
BDM Match (97%)	John Bailey Clegg	Rose Marion Alderson
	💍 1920/11551
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	45	40
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	1 year	4 days
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. H. J. T. Tombleson Otoko
Folio	10723
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edgar Alan Hunt, Church of England, Matawai

160

2 October 1920

Francis Robert Harris
Mary Theresa Bolton

Francis Robert Harris
Mary Theresa Bolton
💍 1920/11552

Widower
Spinster

Hotelkeeper
Domestic duties

62
42

Gisborne
Gisborne

about 50 years
10 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Gisborne

10724

2 October 1920

Rev. Thomas Lane, Roman Catholic, Gisborne

No	160
Date of Notice	2 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Robert Harris	Mary Theresa Bolton
	💍 1920/11552
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper	Domestic duties
Age	62	42
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	about 50 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Gisborne
Folio	10724
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Lane, Roman Catholic, Gisborne

161

8 October 1920

William Henry Sharpin
Beatrice Lillian Franforth

William Henry Sharpin
Beatrice Lilian Crawforth
💍 1920/11529

Divorced Decree absolute dated 4 October 1920
Spinster

Builder
Clerk

46
23

Gisborne
Gisborne

11 years
6 years

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

10725

8 October 1920

Henry Ewart Hill, Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	161
Date of Notice	8 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Sharpin	Beatrice Lillian Franforth
BDM Match (94%)	William Henry Sharpin	Beatrice Lilian Crawforth
	💍 1920/11529
Condition	Divorced Decree absolute dated 4 October 1920	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Clerk
Age	46	23
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	11 years	6 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	10725
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Henry Ewart Hill, Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

162

8 October 1920

Harry Cook
Florence Mabel Seldon

Harry Cook
Florence Mabel Seldon
💍 1920/11530

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic duties

29
32

Gisborne
Gisborne

1 year
14 days

The Holy Trinity Church of England, Gisborne

10726

8 October 1920

Rev. Archdeacon Horace Packe, Church of England, Gisborne

No	162
Date of Notice	8 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Cook	Florence Mabel Seldon
	💍 1920/11530
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic duties
Age	29	32
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	1 year	14 days
Marriage Place	The Holy Trinity Church of England, Gisborne
Folio	10726
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archdeacon Horace Packe, Church of England, Gisborne

163

12 October 1920

William Henry Brooks
Lillian Adelaide Macdonald

William Henry Brooks
Lillian Adelaide MacDonald
💍 1920/11531

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Dental Mechanic

34
29

Gisborne
Gisborne

6 months
6 years

Private residence of the Bride's Parents 21 Norman Road, Gisborne

10727

12 October 1920

Rev. William Herbert Emanuel Abbey, Wesleyan Minister, Gisborne

No	163
Date of Notice	12 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Brooks	Lillian Adelaide Macdonald
BDM Match (98%)	William Henry Brooks	Lillian Adelaide MacDonald
	💍 1920/11531
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Dental Mechanic
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	6 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of the Bride's Parents 21 Norman Road, Gisborne
Folio	10727
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Herbert Emanuel Abbey, Wesleyan Minister, Gisborne

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).