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 1771

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 September 1920 Registrar A. Miller

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

102

17 August 1920

Frederick Lionel Dean
Florence Evelyn Vincent

Frederick Lionel Dean
Florence Evelyn Vincent
💍 1920/8590

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Clerk

23
23

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
6 years

St. Matthew's Church at Masterton

8471

17 August 1920

Rev. John Walker, Church of England

No	102
Date of Notice	17 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Lionel Dean	Florence Evelyn Vincent
	💍 1920/8590
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Clerk
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church at Masterton
Folio	8471
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Walker, Church of England

103

17 August 1920

Eric Clifton Lowes Fowler
Irene Vina Taylor

Eric Clifton Lowes Fowler
Irene Vina Taylor
💍 1920/8592

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent
Domestic duties

28
26

Masterton
Beaumaris, Masterton

2 1/2 years
20 years

St Matthew's Church of England, Masterton

8472

17 August 1920

Rev. B. D. Ashcroft, Church of England

No	103
Date of Notice	17 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Clifton Lowes Fowler	Irene Vina Taylor
	💍 1920/8592
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent	Domestic duties
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Beaumaris, Masterton
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St Matthew's Church of England, Masterton
Folio	8472
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. D. Ashcroft, Church of England

104

17 August 1920

John Alexander Moran
Martha Caroline Evans

John Alexander Moran
Martha Caroline Evans
💍 1920/8593

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter & Joiner
Home Duties

33
24

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
14 days

Knox Church Masterton

8473

17 August 1920

Rev. G. T. Brown, Presbyterian

No	104
Date of Notice	17 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alexander Moran	Martha Caroline Evans
	💍 1920/8593
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter & Joiner	Home Duties
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	14 days
Marriage Place	Knox Church Masterton
Folio	8473
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. T. Brown, Presbyterian

105

18 August 1920

Albert Bell Rigg
Williamina Simpson

Albert Bell Rigg
Williamina Simpson
💍 1920/8594

Widower (26/10/18)
Spinster

Clerk
Dressmaker

28
30

Masterton
Masterton

1 year
8 days

Residence of Mr. A. S. Rigg, Johnstone Street, Masterton

8474

18 August 1920

Rev. G. T. Brown, Presbyterian

No	105
Date of Notice	18 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Bell Rigg	Williamina Simpson
	💍 1920/8594
Condition	Widower (26/10/18)	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	1 year	8 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. A. S. Rigg, Johnstone Street, Masterton
Folio	8474
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. T. Brown, Presbyterian

106

20 August 1920

Cyril Harold August
Mary Catherine Olson

Cyril Harold August
Mary Catherine Olson
💍 1920/8595

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician
Household Duties

28
24

Masterton
Masterton

7 years
24 years

St. Patrick's Church at Masterton

8475

20 August 1920

Rev. M. Broughton, Roman Catholic

No	106
Date of Notice	20 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril Harold August	Mary Catherine Olson
	💍 1920/8595
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician	Household Duties
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	7 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church at Masterton
Folio	8475
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Broughton, Roman Catholic

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).