Intentions to Marry, 1920 Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840491, 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.

1920d contains pages 1399-1884, covering districts from Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Page 1609

District of Ashhurst Quarter ending 30 September 1920 Registrar Howard Vincent

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 July 1920

Colin Campbell Cameron
Ida Maud Hodge

Colin Campbell Cameron
Ida Maud Hodge
💍 1920/8557

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27
21

Ashhurst-Road, Bunnythorpe
Ashhurst Road, Bunnythorpe

4 Days
9 months

Anglican Church, Bunnythorpe

8383

12 July 1920

Rev. F. M. Kempthorne, Anglican Minister

No	9
Date of Notice	12 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Colin Campbell Cameron	Ida Maud Hodge
	💍 1920/8557
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Ashhurst-Road, Bunnythorpe	Ashhurst Road, Bunnythorpe
Length of Residence	4 Days	9 months
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Bunnythorpe
Folio	8383
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. M. Kempthorne, Anglican Minister

20 July 1920

Norman Hector Allan McKinnon
Isabella Bruce Barter

Norman Hector Allan McKinnon
Isabella Bruce Carter
💍 1920/8558

Bachelor
Widow, 31 July 1917

Cheese Maker
Domestic Duties

32
29

Ashhurst
Ashhurst

4 Days
13 months

Methodist Church, Ashhurst

8384

20 July 1920

Rev. W. Gatman, Methodist Minister

No	10
Date of Notice	20 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Hector Allan McKinnon	Isabella Bruce Barter
BDM Match (98%)	Norman Hector Allan McKinnon	Isabella Bruce Carter
	💍 1920/8558
Condition	Bachelor	Widow, 31 July 1917
Profession	Cheese Maker	Domestic Duties
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Ashhurst	Ashhurst
Length of Residence	4 Days	13 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Ashhurst
Folio	8384
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Gatman, Methodist Minister

24 July 1920

Arthur George Nissen
Marguerite Beatrice Mordue

Arthur George Nissen
Marguerite Beatrice Mordue
💍 1920/8535

Widower, 30 October 1918
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic Duties

25
23

Bunnythorpe
Bunnythorpe

10 years
7 days

Registrar's Office, Ashhurst

8385

24 July 1920

Howard Vincent, Registrar of Marriages

No	11
Date of Notice	24 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur George Nissen	Marguerite Beatrice Mordue
	💍 1920/8535
Condition	Widower, 30 October 1918	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic Duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Bunnythorpe	Bunnythorpe
Length of Residence	10 years	7 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Ashhurst
Folio	8385
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Howard Vincent, Registrar of Marriages

24 July 1920

Benjamin Bradney Bockett
Eileen Bowler

Benjamin Bradley Bockett
Eileen Bowler
💍 1920/8536

Widower, 16 November 1918
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

38
26

Raumai
Raumai

2 years
1 year

St. Mary's Church of England, Ashhurst

8386

24 July 1920

Rev. F. M. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister

No	12
Date of Notice	24 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Bradney Bockett	Eileen Bowler
BDM Match (98%)	Benjamin Bradley Bockett	Eileen Bowler
	💍 1920/8536
Condition	Widower, 16 November 1918	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Raumai	Raumai
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church of England, Ashhurst
Folio	8386
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. M. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister

10 August 1920

Ambrose Davey
Mary Hill

Ambrose Davey
Mary Hill
💍 1920/8537

Widower, 1 April 1920
Widow, 4 December 1915

Labourer
Domestic Duties

71
56

Ashhurst
Ashhurst

30 years
4 days

Registrar's Office, Ashhurst

8387

10 August 1920

Howard Vincent, Registrar of Marriages

No	13
Date of Notice	10 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ambrose Davey	Mary Hill
	💍 1920/8537
Condition	Widower, 1 April 1920	Widow, 4 December 1915
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	71	56
Dwelling Place	Ashhurst	Ashhurst
Length of Residence	30 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Ashhurst
Folio	8387
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Howard Vincent, Registrar of Marriages

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).