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 1831

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar A. Shortt

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

07 February 1920

Charles Herbert Symes
Nora Petersen

Charles Herbert Symes
Nora Petersen
💍 1920/3397

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
23

Kairanga
Palmerston North

6 months
6 years

All Saints Church of England Palmerston North

1664

07 February 1920

Rev H. G. Blackburne Anglican

No	31
Date of Notice	07 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Herbert Symes	Nora Petersen
	💍 1920/3397
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Kairanga	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	6 months	6 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England Palmerston North
Folio	1664
Consent
Date of Certificate	07 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev H. G. Blackburne Anglican

12 February 1920

John Manning
Ruby Dickson

John Manning
Ruby Dickson
💍 1920/3398

Widower September 13th 1915
Widow November 21st 1918

Gardener
Domestic

38
27

Awapuni
Awapuni

7 years
7 years

Registrars Office Palmerston North

1665

12 February 1920

C. E. Shortt Registrar

No	32
Date of Notice	12 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Manning	Ruby Dickson
	💍 1920/3398
Condition	Widower September 13th 1915	Widow November 21st 1918
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	38	27
Dwelling Place	Awapuni	Awapuni
Length of Residence	7 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Palmerston North
Folio	1665
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1920
Officiating Minister	C. E. Shortt Registrar

13 February 1920

Simon Thomas O'Rourke
Kathleen McDonald

Simon Thomas O'Rourke
Kathleen MacDonald
💍 1920/4872

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock agent
Domestic

30
27

Palmerston North
Raumai

18 months
27 years

Roman Catholic Church Ashhurst

1495

13 February 1920

Rev J. F. MacManus Roman Catholic

No	33
Date of Notice	13 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Simon Thomas O'Rourke	Kathleen McDonald
BDM Match (97%)	Simon Thomas O'Rourke	Kathleen MacDonald
	💍 1920/4872
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock agent	Domestic
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Raumai
Length of Residence	18 months	27 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Ashhurst
Folio	1495
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev J. F. MacManus Roman Catholic

13 February 1920

Frank Morris Geoffrey Watchorn
Jessie Barbara Bason

Frank Morris Geoffrey Watchorn
Jessie Barbara Bason
💍 1920/3399

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger
Typiste

31
27

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

31 years
17 years

All Saints Church of England Palmerston North

1666

13 February 1920

Rev H. G. Blackburne Anglican

No	34
Date of Notice	13 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Morris Geoffrey Watchorn	Jessie Barbara Bason
	💍 1920/3399
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger	Typiste
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	31 years	17 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England Palmerston North
Folio	1666
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev H. G. Blackburne Anglican

14 February 1920

Alfred Dawson
Myrtle Ivy Bunn

Alfred Dawson
Myrtle Joy Bunn
💍 1920/4997

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Domestic

29
24

Bunnythorpe
Palmerston North

3 days
16 years

St Johns Church of England Feilding

1523

14 February 1920

Rev A. S. Innes-Jones Anglican

No	35
Date of Notice	14 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Dawson	Myrtle Ivy Bunn
BDM Match (93%)	Alfred Dawson	Myrtle Joy Bunn
	💍 1920/4997
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Domestic
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Bunnythorpe	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	16 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Church of England Feilding
Folio	1523
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev A. S. Innes-Jones Anglican

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).