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 2477

District of Motueka Quarter ending 30 June 1920 Registrar B. W. Scott

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

1 April 1920

James Henry Noel Hyde
Emily Hilda Blanche Ryder

James Henry Noel Hyde
Emily Hilda Blanche Ryder
💍 1920/6217

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

25
32

Motueka
Motueka

3 days
32 years

Residence of Mr. Albert Ryder, Riwaka

20/5798

3 April 1920

Rev. Father Campbell, Roman Catholic Priest

No	6
Date of Notice	1 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Noel Hyde	Emily Hilda Blanche Ryder
	💍 1920/6217
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	25	32
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	3 days	32 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Albert Ryder, Riwaka
Folio	20/5798
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Campbell, Roman Catholic Priest

1 April 1920

Henry William Bethwaite
Elsie Eleanor Wratten

Henry William Bethwaite
Elsie Eleanor Wratten
💍 1920/6218

Widower 14-1-1916
Spinster

Builder
Domestic duties

55
41

Motueka
Moutere

3 days
41 years

Residence of Mr. Henry Wratten, Moutere

20/5799

3 April 1920

Rev. C. W. Brown, Methodist Minister

No	7
Date of Notice	1 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Bethwaite	Elsie Eleanor Wratten
	💍 1920/6218
Condition	Widower 14-1-1916	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic duties
Age	55	41
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Moutere
Length of Residence	3 days	41 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Henry Wratten, Moutere
Folio	20/5799
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. W. Brown, Methodist Minister

13 April 1920

Hugh Henry Hermann Wischnowsky
Aileen Katie Ewers

Hugh Henry Hermann Wishnowsky
Aileen Katie Ewers
💍 1920/6219

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

28
22

Neudorf
Neudorf

3 days
22 years

Lutheran Church, Upper Moutere

20/5800

13 April 1920

Rev. A. Appelt, Lutheran Minister, Upper Moutere

No	8
Date of Notice	13 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Henry Hermann Wischnowsky	Aileen Katie Ewers
BDM Match (98%)	Hugh Henry Hermann Wishnowsky	Aileen Katie Ewers
	💍 1920/6219
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Neudorf	Neudorf
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Lutheran Church, Upper Moutere
Folio	20/5800
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Appelt, Lutheran Minister, Upper Moutere

15 April 1920

Francis Herbert Nicholls
Daisy Ma New

Francis Herbert Nicholls
Daisy Ella New
💍 1920/6227

Divorced Decree Absolute 9-3-1920
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

38
23

Tasman
Tasman

4 years
4 years

Office of Deputy Registrar, Motueka

20/5801

15 April 1920

Aug. Scott, Deputy Registrar Motueka

No	9
Date of Notice	15 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Herbert Nicholls	Daisy Ma New
BDM Match (89%)	Francis Herbert Nicholls	Daisy Ella New
	💍 1920/6227
Condition	Divorced Decree Absolute 9-3-1920	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	38	23
Dwelling Place	Tasman	Tasman
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Office of Deputy Registrar, Motueka
Folio	20/5801
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Aug. Scott, Deputy Registrar Motueka

16 April 1920

Alan Douglas Morrison
Florence Mary Scott

Alan Douglas Morrison
Florence Mary Scott
💍 1920/6238

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
20

Marton
Riwaka

27 years
16 years

Residence of Mr. Edward Scott, Riwaka

20/5802

William Edward Scott, Father

16 April 1920

Rev. W. C. Harvey, Presbyterian Minister

No	10
Date of Notice	16 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alan Douglas Morrison	Florence Mary Scott
	💍 1920/6238
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Marton	Riwaka
Length of Residence	27 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Edward Scott, Riwaka
Folio	20/5802
Consent	William Edward Scott, Father
Date of Certificate	16 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. C. Harvey, Presbyterian Minister

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).