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 1859

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 September 1920 Registrar A. Shorth

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

170

24 July 1920

Frank Cecil Coman
Helena Ada Esther Allerby

Frank Cecil Coman
Helena Ada Esther Allerby
💍 1920/8706

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

25
21

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

19 years
6 weeks

All Saints Church of England Palmerston North

8541

24 July 1920

Rev H.G. Blackburne Anglican

No	170
Date of Notice	24 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Cecil Coman	Helena Ada Esther Allerby
	💍 1920/8706
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	19 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England Palmerston North
Folio	8541
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev H.G. Blackburne Anglican

171

26 July 1920

Robert Joseph Terry
Christina Thelma Crowther

Robert Joseph Terry
Christina Thelma Crowther
💍 1920/8707

Bachelor
Widow December 13th 1918

Flaxmill hand
Domestic

24
20

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
7 months

residence of Mrs R. Bilderbeck 13 McGiffert Street Palmerston North

8542

26 July 1920

Rev A. Doull Presbyterian

No	171
Date of Notice	26 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Joseph Terry	Christina Thelma Crowther
	💍 1920/8707
Condition	Bachelor	Widow December 13th 1918
Profession	Flaxmill hand	Domestic
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	7 months
Marriage Place	residence of Mrs R. Bilderbeck 13 McGiffert Street Palmerston North
Folio	8542
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Doull Presbyterian

172

26 July 1920

George Huntley Burns
Ethel Constance Pearce

George Huntley Burns
Ethel Constance Pearce
💍 1920/8708

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Musicteacher

38
24

Palmerston North
Kelvin Grove

3 days
11 days

St Andrews Presbyterian Church Palmerston North

8543

26 July 1920

Rev A. Doull Presbyterian

No	172
Date of Notice	26 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Huntley Burns	Ethel Constance Pearce
	💍 1920/8708
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Musicteacher
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Kelvin Grove
Length of Residence	3 days	11 days
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church Palmerston North
Folio	8543
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Doull Presbyterian

173

27 July 1920

Gustav Hermann Eugen Crass
Elizabeth Catherine Neubecker

Gustav Hermann Eugen Crass
Elizabeth Catherine Neubecker
💍 1920/8709

Widower August 19th 1916
Spinster

Hotelkeeper
Domestic

37
21

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
1 month

All Saints Church of England Palmerston North

8544

27 July 1920

Rev H.G. Blackburne Anglican

No	173
Date of Notice	27 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gustav Hermann Eugen Crass	Elizabeth Catherine Neubecker
	💍 1920/8709
Condition	Widower August 19th 1916	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper	Domestic
Age	37	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England Palmerston North
Folio	8544
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev H.G. Blackburne Anglican

174

27 July 1920

Francis Kale
Mabel Loretto Reidy

Francis Kale
Mabel Loretto Reidy
💍 1920/8711

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic

27
24

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

10 years
5 years

St Patricks Roman Catholic Church Palmerston North

8545

27 July 1920

Rev J.F. MacManus Roman Catholic

No	174
Date of Notice	27 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Kale	Mabel Loretto Reidy
	💍 1920/8711
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	10 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St Patricks Roman Catholic Church Palmerston North
Folio	8545
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev J.F. MacManus 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).