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 1466

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar W. Buchanan

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

2 February 1920

Percy Raeburn Smyrk
Doris Jacqueline Waterworth

Percy Raeburn Smyrk
Doris Jacqueline Waterworth
💍 1920/4660

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Telephonist

24
21

Napier
Napier

23 years
21 years

St Augustine's Church Napier

1409

2 February 1920

Rev. E. D. Rice, Church of England

No	36
Date of Notice	2 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Raeburn Smyrk	Doris Jacqueline Waterworth
	💍 1920/4660
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Telephonist
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St Augustine's Church Napier
Folio	1409
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. D. Rice, Church of England

4 February 1920

Fred Monk
Mabel Emma Cochrane Smyrk

Fred Monk
Mabel Emma Cochrane Smyrk
💍 1920/4661

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist
Domestic Duties

25
22

Napier
Napier

3 days
22 years

Congregational Church Napier

1410

4 February 1920

Rev. A. Hodge, Congregational

No	37
Date of Notice	4 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred Monk	Mabel Emma Cochrane Smyrk
	💍 1920/4661
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist	Domestic Duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church Napier
Folio	1410
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Hodge, Congregational

4 February 1920

Ernest Leopold Ranfurly Hocking
Elsie Isabella Garnham

Ernest Leopold Ranfurly Hocking
Elsie Isabella Garnham
💍 1920/4662

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

22
18

Napier
Napier

1 year
18 years

Congregational Manse Napier

1411

Henry Garnham, Father

4 February 1920

Rev. A. Hodge, Congregational

No	38
Date of Notice	4 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Leopold Ranfurly Hocking	Elsie Isabella Garnham
	💍 1920/4662
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	1 year	18 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Manse Napier
Folio	1411
Consent	Henry Garnham, Father
Date of Certificate	4 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Hodge, Congregational

5 February 1920

Charles Diamond
Margaret McMahon

Charles Diamond
Margaret McMahon
💍 1920/4663

Widower 24th Dec 1913
Spinster

Hotel Keeper
Nurse

60
35

Hastings
Greenmeadows

3 years
6 years

Catholic Church Meeanee

1412

5 February 1920

Rev. Father Hickson, Roman Catholic

No	39
Date of Notice	5 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Diamond	Margaret McMahon
	💍 1920/4663
Condition	Widower 24th Dec 1913	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Keeper	Nurse
Age	60	35
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Greenmeadows
Length of Residence	3 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Meeanee
Folio	1412
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Hickson, Roman Catholic

7 February 1920

Leslie Dyett
Margaret Doran

Leslie Dyett
Margaret Doran
💍 1920/4664

Bachelor
Spinster

Linotype Operator
Domestic

28
25

Napier
Napier

3 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church Napier

1413

7 February 1920

Rev. Father Tymons, Roman Catholic

No	40
Date of Notice	7 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Dyett	Margaret Doran
	💍 1920/4664
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Linotype Operator	Domestic
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Napier
Folio	1413
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Tymons, 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).