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 2567

District of Waimea South Quarter ending 30 September 1920 Registrar Elias Baigent

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 July 1920

Hubert William Ching
Kathleen Clara Higgins

Hubert William Ching
Kathleen Clara Higgins
💍 1920/8900

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter & Joiner
Domestic duties

24
21

Spring Grove
Spring Grove

24 years
21 years

At the residence of Alfred Ernest Higgins, Spring Grove

20/8795

8 July 1920

Mr. John Watt, Church of Christ

No	13
Date of Notice	8 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hubert William Ching	Kathleen Clara Higgins
	💍 1920/8900
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter & Joiner	Domestic duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Spring Grove	Spring Grove
Length of Residence	24 years	21 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Alfred Ernest Higgins, Spring Grove
Folio	20/8795
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Mr. John Watt, Church of Christ

14 July 1920

Walter Purchase
Martha Paton

Walter Purchase
Martha Paton
💍 1920/8901

Bachelor
Widow

Motor mechanic
Domestic Duties

32
38

Brightwater
Brightwater

5 days
3 years

At the residence of Clement George Hodgson, Spring Grove

8796

14 July 1920

Rev. John R. Dart, Church of England

No	14
Date of Notice	14 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Purchase	Martha Paton
	💍 1920/8901
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Motor mechanic	Domestic Duties
Age	32	38
Dwelling Place	Brightwater	Brightwater
Length of Residence	5 days	3 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Clement George Hodgson, Spring Grove
Folio	8796
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. John R. Dart, Church of England

27 July 1920

Leslie Hubert Mytton
Jessie Inez Eatwell

Leslie Hubert Mytton
Jessie Inez Eatwell
💍 1920/8902

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

26
25

Thorpe
Belgrove

1 year
1 year

Church of England, Dovedale

8797

27 July 1920

Rev. John R. Dart, Church of England

No	15
Date of Notice	27 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Hubert Mytton	Jessie Inez Eatwell
	💍 1920/8902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Thorpe	Belgrove
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Church of England, Dovedale
Folio	8797
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. John R. Dart, Church of England

9 August 1920

Hubert Howard Floyd Palmer
Elsie Maud Bailey

Hubert Howard Floyd Palmer
Elsie Maud Bailey
💍 1920/8904

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

32
31

Waimea West
Waimea West

10 months
3 weeks

St. John's Church, Wakefield

8798

9 August 1920

Rev. John R. Dart, Church of England

No	16
Date of Notice	9 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hubert Howard Floyd Palmer	Elsie Maud Bailey
	💍 1920/8904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Waimea West	Waimea West
Length of Residence	10 months	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Wakefield
Folio	8798
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. John R. Dart, Church of England

14 August 1920

David Warwick Thomson
Nellie Agnes Eliza Beilby

David Warwick Thomson
Nellie Agnes Eliza Beilby
💍 1920/8867

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

31
29

88 Valley
88 Valley

3 days
6 years

Residence of Charlotte H. Beilby, 88 Valley

8799

14 August 1920

Rev. G. H. Gibb, Presbyterian

No	17
Date of Notice	14 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Warwick Thomson	Nellie Agnes Eliza Beilby
	💍 1920/8867
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	88 Valley	88 Valley
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Charlotte H. Beilby, 88 Valley
Folio	8799
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Gibb, Presbyterian

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).