Intentions to Marry, 1920 Pongaroa to Wellington

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840492, 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.

1920e contains pages 1885-2344, covering districts from Pongaroa to Wellington

Page 2067

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar R. C. Barnes

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

181

11 February 1920

Charles Henry Martin
Doris Victoria Seaton

Charles Henry Martin
Doris Victoria Seaton
💍 1920/3186

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

38
24

Levin
Wellington

6 months
17 years

St. Peter's Church Willis Street Wellington

650

11 February 1920

Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

No	181
Date of Notice	11 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Martin	Doris Victoria Seaton
	💍 1920/3186
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Levin	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 months	17 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church Willis Street Wellington
Folio	650
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

182

12 February 1920

Wing Chew Chin
May Fung Chin

Wing Chew Chin
May Fung Chin
💍 1920/3144

Previously married in China 15 years ago
Previously married in China 15 years ago

Fruiterer

35
31

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
14 days

Residence of Mrs. A. Wong 4 Mortimer Terrace Wellington

651

12 February 1920

Rev. J. K. Elliott, Presbyterian

No	182
Date of Notice	12 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wing Chew Chin	May Fung Chin
	💍 1920/3144
Condition	Previously married in China 15 years ago	Previously married in China 15 years ago
Profession	Fruiterer
Age	35	31
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	14 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. A. Wong 4 Mortimer Terrace Wellington
Folio	651
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott, Presbyterian

183

12 February 1920

Robert Farmaner Johnson
Mary Alice Hainsworth

Robert Farmaner Johnson
Mary Alice Hainsworth
💍 1920/3155

Bachelor
Widow 22/4/1916

Driver

20
21

Wellington
Wellington

7 years
Life

St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral Wellington

652

George Johnson Father

12 February 1920

Rev. A. M. Johnson, Anglican

No	183
Date of Notice	12 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Farmaner Johnson	Mary Alice Hainsworth
	💍 1920/3155
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 22/4/1916
Profession	Driver
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	7 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral Wellington
Folio	652
Consent	George Johnson Father
Date of Certificate	12 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. M. Johnson, Anglican

184

12 February 1920

Edwin Royden Wells
Catherine Elsie Lynette Mackenzie

Edwin Royden Wells
Catherine Elsie Lynette Mackenzie
💍 1920/3162

Bachelor
Spinster

Architect
Nurse

33
28

Wellington
Wellington

6 months
20 years

Presbyterian Church Kelburn Wellington

653

12 February 1920

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	184
Date of Notice	12 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Royden Wells	Catherine Elsie Lynette Mackenzie
	💍 1920/3162
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Architect	Nurse
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Kelburn Wellington
Folio	653
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

185

12 February 1920

George Abraham Mudge
Nora Grace

George Abraham Mudge
Nora Grace
💍 1920/3163

Bachelor
Spinster

Upholsterer

23
22

Wellington
Wellington

23 years
6 years

Church of Christ Wellington South

654

12 February 1920

W. J. Marshall, Church of Christ

No	185
Date of Notice	12 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Abraham Mudge	Nora Grace
	💍 1920/3163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Upholsterer
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	23 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ Wellington South
Folio	654
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1920
Officiating Minister	W. J. Marshall, Church of Christ

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).