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 2507

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar S. Tyson

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

24 January 1920

Richard Handley
Nora Ella Walker

Richard Handley
Nora Ella Walker
💍 1920/3832

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler
Domestic Duties

33
28

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
6 months

All Saints' Church, Nelson

2629

24 January 1920

Rev. W. W. Bedwell, Church of England

No	11
Date of Notice	24 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Handley	Nora Ella Walker
	💍 1920/3832
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler	Domestic Duties
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church, Nelson
Folio	2629
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. Bedwell, Church of England

5 February 1920

John Reuben Stubbington
Daisy Awhitu

John Reuben Stubbington
Daisy Awhitu
💍 1920/3833

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27
18

Nelson
Nelson

3 weeks
6 months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

2630

John Awhitu, Father

5 February 1920

Mr S. Tyson, Registrar of Marriages

No	12
Date of Notice	5 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Reuben Stubbington	Daisy Awhitu
	💍 1920/3833
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 weeks	6 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	2630
Consent	John Awhitu, Father
Date of Certificate	5 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Mr S. Tyson, Registrar of Marriages

6 February 1920

Norris Henry Tunnicliff
Annie Reeve

Norris Henry Tunnicliff
Annie Reeve
💍 1920/3834

Bachelor
Spinster

School Teacher
Shorthand Typiste

24
24

Nelson
Nelson

24 years
3 days

All Saints Church, Nelson

2631

6 February 1920

Rev. W. W. Bedwell, Church of England

No	13
Date of Notice	6 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norris Henry Tunnicliff	Annie Reeve
	💍 1920/3834
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School Teacher	Shorthand Typiste
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	24 years	3 days
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Nelson
Folio	2631
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. Bedwell, Church of England

6 February 1920

Bernard Novella Tomlinson
Aileen Rebecca Grooby

Bernard Novella Tomlinson
Aileen Rebecca Grooby
💍 1920/3835

Widower 16th November 1912
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic Duties

42
23

Nelson
Nelson

4 days
4 days

Dwelling of Ashton Arnold, Seymour Avenue, Nelson

2632

6 February 1920

Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic

No	14
Date of Notice	6 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard Novella Tomlinson	Aileen Rebecca Grooby
	💍 1920/3835
Condition	Widower 16th November 1912	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic Duties
Age	42	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Ashton Arnold, Seymour Avenue, Nelson
Folio	2632
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic

7 February 1920

Kennedy Alexander Sclanders
Constance Gertrude Webb

Kennedy Alexander Sclanders
Constance Gertrude Webb
💍 1920/3836

Bachelor
Spinster

Official Eastern Extension Telegraph Company
Domestic Duties

38
32

Nelson
Nelson

1 week
5 years

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson

2633

7 February 1920

Rev. Bishop Mules, Church of England

No	15
Date of Notice	7 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kennedy Alexander Sclanders	Constance Gertrude Webb
	💍 1920/3836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Official Eastern Extension Telegraph Company	Domestic Duties
Age	38	32
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	1 week	5 years
Marriage Place	Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	2633
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Bishop Mules, 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).