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 2527

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 1920 Registrar S. Lyon

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

22 November 1920

Philip John Westrupp
Daisy Evelyn Gill

Philip John Westrupp
Daisy Evelyn Gill
💍 1920/9488

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Domestic duties

27
25

Nelson
Nelson

3 days
3 years

In the dwelling of Mr. Alfred Gill, 41 Waimea Road, Nelson

11635

22 November 1920

Mr. John Griffith, Church of Christ

No	98
Date of Notice	22 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip John Westrupp	Daisy Evelyn Gill
	💍 1920/9488
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Domestic duties
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling of Mr. Alfred Gill, 41 Waimea Road, Nelson
Folio	11635
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Mr. John Griffith, Church of Christ

23 November 1920

Albert John Simpson
Violet Rose Craw

Albert John Simpson
Violet Rose Craw
💍 1920/9489

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Saleswoman

26
25

Nelson
Nelson

6 days
6 months

All Saints Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson

11636

23 November 1920

Rev. H. Irving Howe, Church of England

No	99
Date of Notice	23 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Simpson	Violet Rose Craw
	💍 1920/9489
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Saleswoman
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	6 days	6 months
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson
Folio	11636
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Irving Howe, Church of England

100

24 November 1920

Charles Edward Horncastle
Florence Mabel Bartlett

Charles Edward Horncastle
Florence Mabel Bartlett
💍 1920/9490

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Saleswoman

27
23

Nelson
Nelson

14 years
23 years

Baptist Church, Bridge Street, Nelson

11637

24 November 1920

Rev. John Laird, Baptist

No	100
Date of Notice	24 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Horncastle	Florence Mabel Bartlett
	💍 1920/9490
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Saleswoman
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	14 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Bridge Street, Nelson
Folio	11637
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Laird, Baptist

101

25 November 1920

Frederick Foster Guy
Violet Kezia Margaret Siphor

Frederick Foster Guy
Violet Kezia Margaret Sixtus
💍 1920/9491

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Domestic Servant

22
19

Nelson
Nelson

15 years
19 years

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson

11638

John Charles Albert Linkes, Guardian

25 November 1920

Rev. J. E. Weeks, Church of England

No	101
Date of Notice	25 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Foster Guy	Violet Kezia Margaret Siphor
BDM Match (93%)	Frederick Foster Guy	Violet Kezia Margaret Sixtus
	💍 1920/9491
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Domestic Servant
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	15 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	11638
Consent	John Charles Albert Linkes, Guardian
Date of Certificate	25 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. E. Weeks, Church of England

102

27 November 1920

Arthur Beeson
Ivy Kirby

Arthur Beeson
Ivy May Kirby
💍 1920/9492

Widower 31st December 1913
Spinster

Journalist
Domestic duties

44
24

Nelson
Nelson

1 week
2 years

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson

11639

29 November 1920

Rev. H. W. Austin, Church of England

No	102
Date of Notice	27 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Beeson	Ivy Kirby
BDM Match (85%)	Arthur Beeson	Ivy May Kirby
	💍 1920/9492
Condition	Widower 31st December 1913	Spinster
Profession	Journalist	Domestic duties
Age	44	24
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	1 week	2 years
Marriage Place	Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	11639
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Austin, 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).