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 1858

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 September 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

165

23 July 1920

Adolphus Hector Sorensen
Kathleen de Ridder

Adolphus Hector Sorensen
Kathleen de Ridder
💍 1920/8701

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

21
17

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 days

Residence of Mrs C. Vincent, Amesbury Street, Palmerston North

8536

Amy Winifred Anderson, Mother

23 July 1920

Rev A. Ashcroft, Methodist

No	165
Date of Notice	23 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adolphus Hector Sorensen	Kathleen de Ridder
	💍 1920/8701
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs C. Vincent, Amesbury Street, Palmerston North
Folio	8536
Consent	Amy Winifred Anderson, Mother
Date of Certificate	23 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Ashcroft, Methodist

166

23 July 1920

John Louden
Jane Hollis

John Louden
Jane Hollis
💍 1920/8702

Widower June 2nd 1912
Widow October 21st 1915

Contractor
Domestic

64
43

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

16 days
30 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Palmerston North

8537

23 July 1920

Rev A. Doull, Presbyterian

No	166
Date of Notice	23 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Louden	Jane Hollis
	💍 1920/8702
Condition	Widower June 2nd 1912	Widow October 21st 1915
Profession	Contractor	Domestic
Age	64	43
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	16 days	30 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Palmerston North
Folio	8537
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Doull, Presbyterian

167

24 July 1920

James Edward Hodgson
Edith Matilda Jellyman

James Edward Hodgson
Edith Matilda Jellyman
💍 1920/8703

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
18

Whakaronga
Palmerston North

12 months
3 years

St Peters Church of England, Terrace End, Palmerston North

8538

John Jellyman, Father

24 July 1920

Rev John Hobbs, Anglican

No	167
Date of Notice	24 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Edward Hodgson	Edith Matilda Jellyman
	💍 1920/8703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	18
Dwelling Place	Whakaronga	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	12 months	3 years
Marriage Place	St Peters Church of England, Terrace End, Palmerston North
Folio	8538
Consent	John Jellyman, Father
Date of Certificate	24 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev John Hobbs, Anglican

168

24 July 1920

Ernest Chester
Roberta Isabel Amelia Moore

Ernest Chester
Roberta Isabell Amelia Moore
💍 1920/8704

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

26
19

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 years
4 years

All Saints Church of England, Palmerston North

8539

Sarah Amelia Moore, Mother

24 July 1920

Rev John Hobbs, Anglican

No	168
Date of Notice	24 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Chester	Roberta Isabel Amelia Moore
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest Chester	Roberta Isabell Amelia Moore
	💍 1920/8704
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England, Palmerston North
Folio	8539
Consent	Sarah Amelia Moore, Mother
Date of Certificate	24 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev John Hobbs, Anglican

169

24 July 1920

Peter William Hansen
Dorothy Sheldrake

Peter William Hansen
Dorothy Sheldrake
💍 1920/8705

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

33
27

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

7 days
7 days

Registrar's Office, Palmerston North

8540

24 July 1920

C. E. Shortt, Registrar

No	169
Date of Notice	24 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter William Hansen	Dorothy Sheldrake
	💍 1920/8705
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	7 days	7 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Palmerston North
Folio	8540
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1920
Officiating Minister	C. E. Shortt, Registrar

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).