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 1719

District of Levin Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar Richard W. Percy

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

6 January 1920

Albert Arthur Close
Hinemoa Muriel Broughton

Albert Arthur Close
Hinemoa Muriel Broughton
💍 1920/3342

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

27
19

Levin
Levin

15 years
19 years

Registrar's Office, Levin

1551

William Teahura Broughton, Father

6 January 1920

Richard W. Percy, Registrar, Levin

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Arthur Close	Hinemoa Muriel Broughton
	💍 1920/3342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	15 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Levin
Folio	1551
Consent	William Teahura Broughton, Father
Date of Certificate	6 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Richard W. Percy, Registrar, Levin

16 January 1920

Edward David Milne
Lilienthal Hanson

Edward David Milne
Lilienthal Hanson
💍 1920/3353

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

23
20

Teraroa
Teraroa

6 days
20 years

Saint Mary's Church of England, Levin

1552

Arthur Albert Hanson, Father

16 January 1920

Rev F. H. Grove, Church of England

No	2
Date of Notice	16 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward David Milne	Lilienthal Hanson
	💍 1920/3353
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Teraroa	Teraroa
Length of Residence	6 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Saint Mary's Church of England, Levin
Folio	1552
Consent	Arthur Albert Hanson, Father
Date of Certificate	16 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev F. H. Grove, Church of England

28 January 1920

Arthur Reginald Borland
Ruby Elizabeth Bignal

Arthur Reginald Borland
Ruby Elizabeth Bignal
💍 1920/3360

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman
Domestic Duties

26
23

Levin
Levin

4 months
23 years

The Registrar's Office, Levin

1553

28 January 1920

Richard W. Percy, Registrar, Levin

No	3
Date of Notice	28 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Reginald Borland	Ruby Elizabeth Bignal
	💍 1920/3360
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman	Domestic Duties
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	4 months	23 years
Marriage Place	The Registrar's Office, Levin
Folio	1553
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Richard W. Percy, Registrar, Levin

21 February 1920

Charles Henry Martin
Doris Victoria Seaton

Charles Henry Martin
Doris Victoria Seaton
💍 1920/3186

Bachelor
Spinster

Store Keeper
Domestic Duties

38
24

Levin
Wellington

6 months
16 years

St Peters Church, Willis St, Wellington

650

21 February 1920

Rev H. Watson, Anglican, Wellington

No	4
Date of Notice	21 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Martin	Doris Victoria Seaton
	💍 1920/3186
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Store Keeper	Domestic Duties
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Levin	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 months	16 years
Marriage Place	St Peters Church, Willis St, Wellington
Folio	650
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev H. Watson, Anglican, Wellington

24 February 1920

Harry Thorne
Eva Ann Collis

Harry Thorne
Eva Ann Collis
💍 1920/3361

Widower
Spinster

Surfaceman
Domestic Duties

48
38

Levin
Levin

5 days
4 years

Dwelling of George Collis, Bath St, Levin

1554

24 February 1920

Thomas E. Holmes, Salvation Army Officer

No	5
Date of Notice	24 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Thorne	Eva Ann Collis
	💍 1920/3361
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Surfaceman	Domestic Duties
Age	48	38
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	5 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of George Collis, Bath St, Levin
Folio	1554
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Thomas E. Holmes, Salvation Army Officer

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).