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 1835

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar C. E. 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

9 March 1920

Henry Hugh Bryce
Margaret Olive Schaw

Henry Hugh Bryce
Margaret Olive Schaw
💍 1920/4829

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

35
34

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
6 months

All Saints Church of England Palmerston North

1681

9 March 1920

Rev H. G. Blackburne, Church of England

No	51
Date of Notice	9 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hugh Bryce	Margaret Olive Schaw
	💍 1920/4829
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England Palmerston North
Folio	1681
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev H. G. Blackburne, Church of England

9 March 1920

William Shiells
Grace Baylis

William Shiells
Grace Baylis
💍 1920/4417

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic
Domestic

32
27

Palmerston North
Wellington

7 months
27 years

Presbyterian Church Kent Terrace Wellington

792

9 March 1920

Rev J. K. Elliott, Presbyterian

No	52
Date of Notice	9 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Shiells	Grace Baylis
	💍 1920/4417
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic	Domestic
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Wellington
Length of Residence	7 months	27 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Kent Terrace Wellington
Folio	792
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev J. K. Elliott, Presbyterian

12 March 1920

Robert Hooker
Martha Ann Hook

Robert Hooker
Martha Ann Hook
💍 1920/4830

Widower April 17th 1919
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

64
50

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

8 years
2 years

Residence of J. J. Toomer 30 Linton Street Palmerston North

1682

12 March 1920

Brig. J. J. Toomer, Salvation Army

No	53
Date of Notice	12 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Hooker	Martha Ann Hook
	💍 1920/4830
Condition	Widower April 17th 1919	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	64	50
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	8 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. J. Toomer 30 Linton Street Palmerston North
Folio	1682
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Brig. J. J. Toomer, Salvation Army

17 March 1920

Frank Chesswas
Lily Thompson

Frank Chesswas
Lily Thompson
💍 1920/4831

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

26
22

Bunnythorpe
Bunnythorpe

3 days
13 months

Residence of Mr E. Thompson Ruff's Road Bunnythorpe

1683

17 March 1920

Rev H. Curran, Undenominational

No	54
Date of Notice	17 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Chesswas	Lily Thompson
	💍 1920/4831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Bunnythorpe	Bunnythorpe
Length of Residence	3 days	13 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr E. Thompson Ruff's Road Bunnythorpe
Folio	1683
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev H. Curran, Undenominational

20 March 1920

Henry John Frame
Freda Johanna Olsen

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

22
24

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 months
24 years

Residence of Mrs A. M. C. Olsen 20 Bourke Street Palmerston North

See attached

20 March 1920

Rev Mads Christensen, Lutheran

No	55
Date of Notice	20 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Frame	Freda Johanna Olsen
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 months	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs A. M. C. Olsen 20 Bourke Street Palmerston North
Folio	See attached
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev Mads Christensen, Lutheran

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).