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 1832

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

14 February 1920

Norman Henry Mackie
Vera Constance Cato

Norman Henry Mackie
Vera Constance Cato
💍 1920/4667

Bachelor
Spinster

Government Valuer
Domestic

32
24

Palmerston North
Napier

5 months
20 years

Anglican Cathedral Napier

1416

14 February 1920

Rev W. J. Simkin Anglican

No	36
Date of Notice	14 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Henry Mackie	Vera Constance Cato
	💍 1920/4667
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Government Valuer	Domestic
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Napier
Length of Residence	5 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Cathedral Napier
Folio	1416
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev W. J. Simkin Anglican

14 February 1920

George Procter
Jeannie Rose Robertson

George Procter
Jeannie Rosa Robertson
💍 1920/3400

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic

24
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

1 week
1 week

St Andrews Presbyterian Church Palmerston North

1667

14 February 1920

Rev A. Doull Presbyterian

No	37
Date of Notice	14 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Procter	Jeannie Rose Robertson
BDM Match (98%)	George Procter	Jeannie Rosa Robertson
	💍 1920/3400
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church Palmerston North
Folio	1667
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Doull Presbyterian

17 February 1920

Arthur Edward Laurence
Catherine Draper

Arthur Edward Laurence
Catherine Draper
💍 1920/3402

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
27

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
4 years

St Patricks Roman Catholic Church Palmerston North

1668

17 February 1920

Rev J. F. MacManus Roman Catholic

No	38
Date of Notice	17 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Edward Laurence	Catherine Draper
	💍 1920/3402
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	St Patricks Roman Catholic Church Palmerston North
Folio	1668
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev J. F. MacManus Roman Catholic

23 February 1920

Claude Thain Flyger
Rita Mabel Sampson

Claude Thain Flyger
Rita Mabel Sampson
💍 1920/3401

Widower May 17th 1915
Divorced Decree Absolute February 20th 1920

Taxi Proprietor
Domestic

39
29

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

35 years
4 years

Registrars Office Palmerston North

1669

23 February 1920

C. E. Shortt Registrar

No	39
Date of Notice	23 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude Thain Flyger	Rita Mabel Sampson
	💍 1920/3401
Condition	Widower May 17th 1915	Divorced Decree Absolute February 20th 1920
Profession	Taxi Proprietor	Domestic
Age	39	29
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	35 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Palmerston North
Folio	1669
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1920
Officiating Minister	C. E. Shortt Registrar

24 February 1920

Edward Francis O'Connor
Hannah Linwood

Edward Francis O'Connor
Hannah Linwood
💍 1920/3404

Bachelor
Married Has not seen or heard of Husband for 8 years Past

Labourer
Domestic

49
45

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 days

Registrars Office Palmerston North

1670

24 February 1920

C. E. Shortt Registrar

No	40
Date of Notice	24 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Francis O'Connor	Hannah Linwood
	💍 1920/3404
Condition	Bachelor	Married Has not seen or heard of Husband for 8 years Past
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	49	45
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Palmerston North
Folio	1670
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1920
Officiating Minister	C. E. Shortt Registrar

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).