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 1819

District of Pahiatua Quarter ending 30 September 1920 Registrar D. D. Jomske

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 July 1920

Graham Ingles Luck
Lilian Ruby Thomas

Graham Ingles Tuck
Lilian Ruby Thomas
💍 1920/8620

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmilling
Domestic Duties

21
18

Orte
Orte

3 days
18 years

Residence of J. F. Taverch, Orte

8506

No person in New Zealand having authority by law to give consent

21 July 1920

Rev R. Welsh, Presbyterian

No	24
Date of Notice	6 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Graham Ingles Luck	Lilian Ruby Thomas
BDM Match (97%)	Graham Ingles Tuck	Lilian Ruby Thomas
	💍 1920/8620
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmilling	Domestic Duties
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Orte	Orte
Length of Residence	3 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. F. Taverch, Orte
Folio	8506
Consent	No person in New Zealand having authority by law to give consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev R. Welsh, Presbyterian

9 July 1920

Charles Andrews
Rose Cornforth

Charles Andrews
Rose Cornforth
💍 1920/8621

Widower 4/2/11
Widow 9/10/15

Farmer
Domestic

54
52

Mangatainoka
Mangatainoka

3 years
25 years

Residence of Mrs Meara, Mangatainoka

8507

9 July 1920

Rev R. Welsh, Presbyterian

No	25
Date of Notice	9 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Andrews	Rose Cornforth
	💍 1920/8621
Condition	Widower 4/2/11	Widow 9/10/15
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	54	52
Dwelling Place	Mangatainoka	Mangatainoka
Length of Residence	3 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Meara, Mangatainoka
Folio	8507
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev R. Welsh, Presbyterian

13 July 1920

Ernest George Hardle
Mary McIntyre

Ernest George Wardle
Mary McIntyre
💍 1920/8622

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Household Duties

25
24

Mangatainoka
Mangatainoka

3 days
3 months

St. Marks Church, Mangatainoka

8508

13 July 1920

Rev R Hermon, Church of England

No	26
Date of Notice	13 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest George Hardle	Mary McIntyre
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest George Wardle	Mary McIntyre
	💍 1920/8622
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household Duties
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Mangatainoka	Mangatainoka
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	St. Marks Church, Mangatainoka
Folio	8508
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev R Hermon, Church of England

14 July 1920

John Christopher McCulehan
Mary Josephine McCarthy

John Christopher McCutchan
Mary Josephine McCarthy
💍 1920/8623

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

34
29

Pahiatua
Kaitawa

3 days
29 years

Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua

8509

14 July 1920

Rev N. J. Saunderson, Roman Catholic

No	27
Date of Notice	14 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Christopher McCulehan	Mary Josephine McCarthy
BDM Match (96%)	John Christopher McCutchan	Mary Josephine McCarthy
	💍 1920/8623
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Kaitawa
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua
Folio	8509
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev N. J. Saunderson, Roman Catholic

19 July 1920

Hugo Grinert
Annie Josephine Cleghorn

Hugo Zeinert
Annie Josephine Cleghorn
💍 1920/8624

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheese factory manager
Domestic Duties

32
22

Marima
Scarborough

2 years
22 years

Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua

8510

19 July 1920

Rev N. J. Saunderson, Roman Catholic

No	28
Date of Notice	19 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugo Grinert	Annie Josephine Cleghorn
BDM Match (92%)	Hugo Zeinert	Annie Josephine Cleghorn
	💍 1920/8624
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheese factory manager	Domestic Duties
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Marima	Scarborough
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua
Folio	8510
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev N. J. Saunderson, Roman Catholic

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).