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 2831

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1920

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

738

06 July 1920

Thorvald Vilhelm Rasmussen
Emma Rose Lundquist

Thorwald Vilhelm Rasmussen
Emma Rose Lundquist
💍 1920/7437

Bachelor
Widow 21. 4. 19.

Fisherman

42
45

Linwood
Linwood

6 days
5 weeks

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch

7287

06 July 1920

Rev. J. A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

No	738
Date of Notice	06 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thorvald Vilhelm Rasmussen	Emma Rose Lundquist
BDM Match (98%)	Thorwald Vilhelm Rasmussen	Emma Rose Lundquist
	💍 1920/7437
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 21. 4. 19.
Profession	Fisherman
Age	42	45
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	6 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch
Folio	7287
Consent
Date of Certificate	06 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Kennedy, Roman Catholic

739

06 July 1920

Arthur George Malzard
Louisa May Meynell

Arthur George Malzard
Louisa May Meynell
💍 1920/7438

Bachelor
Spinster

French Polisher

23
22

Woolston
Woolston

11 months
3 days

Residence of Rev. J. Paterson 346, Worcester Street, Christchurch

7288

06 July 1920

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	739
Date of Notice	06 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur George Malzard	Louisa May Meynell
	💍 1920/7438
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	French Polisher
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	11 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. J. Paterson 346, Worcester Street, Christchurch
Folio	7288
Consent
Date of Certificate	06 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

740

06 July 1920

Reuben Allott Claridge
Stella Lavine McBratney

Reuben Allott Claridge
Stella Lavine McBratney
💍 1920/7439

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
School Teacher

21
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 months
22 years

Methodist Church, Shirley.

7289

06 July 1920

Mr H. Spencer, Methodist

No	740
Date of Notice	06 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reuben Allott Claridge	Stella Lavine McBratney
	💍 1920/7439
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	School Teacher
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 months	22 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Shirley.
Folio	7289
Consent
Date of Certificate	06 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Mr H. Spencer, Methodist

741

07 July 1920

William Claude Offwood
Violet Beatrice Lilley

William Claude Offwood
Violet Beatrice Lilley
💍 1920/7440

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Hand
Machinist

19
23

Sydenham
Sydenham

10 years
3 years

Residence of Mr S. Offwood, 14, Stanley Street, Sydenham

7290

Samuel Offwood (father)

07 July 1920

Rev. J. K. Archer, Baptist

No	741
Date of Notice	07 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Claude Offwood	Violet Beatrice Lilley
	💍 1920/7440
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Hand	Machinist
Age	19	23
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr S. Offwood, 14, Stanley Street, Sydenham
Folio	7290
Consent	Samuel Offwood (father)
Date of Certificate	07 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Archer, Baptist

742

07 July 1920

John Morgan
Catherine Moughtin

John Morgan
Catherine Moughtin
💍 1920/7441

Bachelor
Widow 10. 3. 1910.

Sailor

50
59

Sydenham
Sydenham

1 week
3 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

7291

07 July 1920

Registrar

No	742
Date of Notice	07 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Morgan	Catherine Moughtin
	💍 1920/7441
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 10. 3. 1910.
Profession	Sailor
Age	50	59
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	1 week	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	7291
Consent
Date of Certificate	07 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).