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 1450

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 December 1920 Registrar R. B. Brathwaite

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

136

23 October 1920

William Colin Simmons
Beatrice Evelyne Bluck

William Colin Simmons
Beatrice Evelyne Bluck
💍 1920/11862

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
School Teacher

32
26

Mangatahi
Mangatahi

30 years
4 months

Registrar's Office Hastings

11162

23 October 1920

L. C. Brathwaite, Deputy Registrar

No	136
Date of Notice	23 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Colin Simmons	Beatrice Evelyne Bluck
	💍 1920/11862
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	School Teacher
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Mangatahi	Mangatahi
Length of Residence	30 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Hastings
Folio	11162
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1920
Officiating Minister	L. C. Brathwaite, Deputy Registrar

137

23 October 1920

Elwin John Gardner
Emily Blanche Henty

Elwin John Gardner
Emily Blanche Henty
💍 1920/11863

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic duties

21
20

Hastings
Hastings

3 years
20 years

Baptist Church Hastings

11163

Robert Godfrey Henty (Father)

23 October 1920

Rev. H. G. Edridge, Baptist

No	137
Date of Notice	23 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elwin John Gardner	Emily Blanche Henty
	💍 1920/11863
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic duties
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Hastings
Folio	11163
Consent	Robert Godfrey Henty (Father)
Date of Certificate	23 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Edridge, Baptist

138

01 November 1920

Harold Murray Orr
Marjorie Lydia Wheeler

Harold Murray Orr
Marjorie Lydia Whaaler
💍 1920/11864

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

28
28

Havelock North
Havelock North

5 days
11 years

St. Luke's Church Havelock North

11164

01 November 1920

Rev. J. A. Lush, Anglican

No	138
Date of Notice	01 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Murray Orr	Marjorie Lydia Wheeler
BDM Match (95%)	Harold Murray Orr	Marjorie Lydia Whaaler
	💍 1920/11864
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Havelock North	Havelock North
Length of Residence	5 days	11 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church Havelock North
Folio	11164
Consent
Date of Certificate	01 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lush, Anglican

139

03 November 1920

Claude Ivy Rudman
Winifred Kathleen Fearn

Claude Ivy Rudman
Winifred Kathleen Fearn
💍 1920/11865

Bachelor
Spinster

Post Office Official
Domestic duties

27
25

Hastings
Hastings

9 years
25 years

Catholic Church Hastings

11165

03 November 1920

Rev. Father Mahony, Catholic

No	139
Date of Notice	03 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude Ivy Rudman	Winifred Kathleen Fearn
	💍 1920/11865
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Post Office Official	Domestic duties
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	9 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Hastings
Folio	11165
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Mahony, Catholic

140

03 November 1920

Frank Richard Garton
Frances Gertrude Bekley

Frank Richard Garton
Frances Gertrude Betley
💍 1920/11866

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruit Packer
Book-Keeper

25
27

Hastings
Hastings

4 years
27 years

St. Matthews Church Hastings

11166

03 November 1920

Rev. R. T. Hall, Anglican

No	140
Date of Notice	03 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Richard Garton	Frances Gertrude Bekley
BDM Match (98%)	Frank Richard Garton	Frances Gertrude Betley
	💍 1920/11866
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruit Packer	Book-Keeper
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church Hastings
Folio	11166
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. T. Hall, Anglican

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).