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 2421

District of Buller Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar W. J. Coads

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

8 January 1920

William Frank Whiting
Constance Selma O'Brien

William Frank Whiting
Constance Selma O'Brien
💍 1920/3779

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Home Duties

24
25

Westport
Westport

3 Weeks
4 Weeks

At residence of Mr. George Whiting, 46 Derby St., Westport.

20/2599

8 January 1920

Rev. W. A. Watson, Methodist

No	1
Date of Notice	8 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frank Whiting	Constance Selma O'Brien
	💍 1920/3779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Home Duties
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	3 Weeks	4 Weeks
Marriage Place	At residence of Mr. George Whiting, 46 Derby St., Westport.
Folio	20/2599
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Watson, Methodist

24 January 1920

Horace Edward Fayen
Beatrice Maud Jones

Horace Edward Fayen
Beatrice Maud Jones
💍 1920/3780

Bachelor
Spinster

Boilermaker
Domestic Servant

24
19

Westport
Westport

11 months
14 Years

Residence of Mr. Edward Jones, Derby Street, Westport

20/2600

Edward Jones, Father

24 January 1920

Rev. W. A. Watson, Methodist

No	2
Date of Notice	24 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace Edward Fayen	Beatrice Maud Jones
	💍 1920/3780
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker	Domestic Servant
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	11 months	14 Years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Edward Jones, Derby Street, Westport
Folio	20/2600
Consent	Edward Jones, Father
Date of Certificate	24 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Watson, Methodist

2 February 1920

Albert Madas Jorgensen
Mabel Harvey

Albert Madas Jorgensen
Mabel Harvey
💍 1920/5156

Alfred George Gordon Barnard
Mabel Harvey
💍 1920/5698

Bachelor
Widow (13th October 1912)

Labourer
Grocer

34
34

Westport
Westport

28 years
12 Years

St. John's Church of England, Westport

20/2601

2 February 1920

Canon J. F. Coursey, Church of England

No	3
Date of Notice	2 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Madas Jorgensen	Mabel Harvey
	💍 1920/5156
BDM Match (64%)	Alfred George Gordon Barnard	Mabel Harvey
	💍 1920/5698
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (13th October 1912)
Profession	Labourer	Grocer
Age	34	34
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	28 years	12 Years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church of England, Westport
Folio	20/2601
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Canon J. F. Coursey, Church of England

10 February 1920

Henry August Patrick Casey
Bridget Ann Phibbs

Henry August Patrick Casey
Bridget Ann Phibbs
💍 1920/5167

Bachelor
Spinster

Turner N. Z. Railway
Domestic duties

20
20

Westport
Westport

20 years
15 Years

St. Canice's Roman Catholic Church, Westport

20/2602

Consent from Mother see attached

10 February 1920

Rev. Patrick Francis Cullen, Roman Catholic

No	4
Date of Notice	10 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry August Patrick Casey	Bridget Ann Phibbs
	💍 1920/5167
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Turner N. Z. Railway	Domestic duties
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	20 years	15 Years
Marriage Place	St. Canice's Roman Catholic Church, Westport
Folio	20/2602
Consent	Consent from Mother see attached
Date of Certificate	10 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Francis Cullen, Roman Catholic

11 February 1920

William Rennie
Sarah Mary Jones

William Rennie
Sarah Mary Jones
💍 1920/5174

Bachelor
Spinster

Lifter acting Crane Driver
Domestic

27
23

Westport
Westport

15 Years
14 Years

Residence of Mr. Edward Jones, Derby St., Westport

20/2603

11 February 1920

Rev. W. A. Watson, Methodist

No	5
Date of Notice	11 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Rennie	Sarah Mary Jones
	💍 1920/5174
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lifter acting Crane Driver	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	15 Years	14 Years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Edward Jones, Derby St., Westport
Folio	20/2603
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Watson, Methodist

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).