Intentions to Marry, 1920 Kaikoura to Christchurch

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840493, 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.

1920f contains pages 2345-2956, covering districts from Kaikoura to Christchurch

Page 2385

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 September 1920 Registrar C. E. Butcher

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

27 July 1920

Henry James Hill
Annie Blanche Berry

Henry James Hill
Annie Blanche Berry
💍 1920/12469

Bachelor
Spinster

Wharf lumper
Domestic Duties

26
19

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
3 days

Registrars Office, Blenheim

20/8704

Amy Wilkinson, mother

27 July 1920

Mr C. E. Butcher Registrar of Marriages

No	69
Date of Notice	27 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Hill	Annie Blanche Berry
	💍 1920/12469
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wharf lumper	Domestic Duties
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Blenheim
Folio	20/8704
Consent	Amy Wilkinson, mother
Date of Certificate	27 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Mr C. E. Butcher Registrar of Marriages

29 July 1920

Ernest Charles Magee
Gladys Sinclair Avery

Ernest Charles Magee
Gladys Sinclair Avery
💍 1920/8836

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

30
23

Wellington
Blenheim

7 years
21 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

20/8705

29 July 1920

Ven. Arch G. W. York Church of England

No	70
Date of Notice	29 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Charles Magee	Gladys Sinclair Avery
	💍 1920/8836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Blenheim
Length of Residence	7 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	20/8705
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch G. W. York Church of England

30 July 1920

Thomas Jordan Satherley
Alice Lily May Nation

Thomas Jordan Satherley
Alice Lily May Nation
💍 1920/8837

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic servant

20
18

Blenheim
Blenheim

20 years
12 years

Registrar's Office, Blenheim

20/8706

Mary Elizabeth Satherley mother, Philip Henry Nation father

30 July 1920

Mr. C. E.. Butcher Registrar of Marriages

No	71
Date of Notice	30 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Jordan Satherley	Alice Lily May Nation
	💍 1920/8837
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic servant
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	20 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Blenheim
Folio	20/8706
Consent	Mary Elizabeth Satherley mother, Philip Henry Nation father
Date of Certificate	30 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Mr. C. E.. Butcher Registrar of Marriages

2 August 1920

Percy Edward Neal
Sarah Ann Gardiner

Percy Edward Neal
Sarah Ann Gardiner
💍 1920/8838

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

30
18

Tua Marina
Tua Marina

25 years
13 years

St Luke's Church, Marlboroughtown

20/8707

Robert Gilbert Gardiner father

2 August 1920

Rev. W. Wollstein Church of England

No	72
Date of Notice	2 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Edward Neal	Sarah Ann Gardiner
	💍 1920/8838
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	30	18
Dwelling Place	Tua Marina	Tua Marina
Length of Residence	25 years	13 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Church, Marlboroughtown
Folio	20/8707
Consent	Robert Gilbert Gardiner father
Date of Certificate	2 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Wollstein Church of England

6 August 1920

Gordon Richard Western
Helen Templeton McRae

Gordon Richard Western
Helen Templeton McRae
💍 1920/8839

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
27

Seddon
Altimarlock

29 years
27 years

Residence of Mr. A. C. McRae, Altimarlock

20/8708

6 August 1920

Rev. H. B. White Church of England

No	73
Date of Notice	6 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Richard Western	Helen Templeton McRae
	💍 1920/8839
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Seddon	Altimarlock
Length of Residence	29 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. A. C. McRae, Altimarlock
Folio	20/8708
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. White Church of England

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).