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 2651

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar C. W. Walker

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

23 February 1920

Richard Solomon Henry Day
Frances Mary Reeve Baker

Richard Solomon Henry Day
Frances Mary Reeve Baker
💍 1920/5330

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

29
24

Ashburton
Tinwald

20 years
24 years

Church of England, Ashburton

2705

23 February 1920

Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

No	11
Date of Notice	23 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Solomon Henry Day	Frances Mary Reeve Baker
	💍 1920/5330
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Tinwald
Length of Residence	20 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	2705
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

24 February 1920

William McGregor Murray
Caroline Amelia Small

William McGregor Murray
Caroline Amelia Small
💍 1920/5341

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

25
27

Ashburton
Ashburton

8 years
5 years

Presbyterian Manse, Ashburton

2706

24 February 1920

Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

No	12
Date of Notice	24 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McGregor Murray	Caroline Amelia Small
	💍 1920/5341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	8 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Ashburton
Folio	2706
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

28 February 1920

James Duncan Stewart
Ruby Eileen Florizell Ashby

James Duncan Stewart
Ruby Eileen Florizell Ashby
💍 1920/5240

Bachelor
Spinster

Woolsorter
domestic duties

38
25

Fairton
Leithfield

2 months
23 years

Church of England, Leithfield

2773

28 February 1920

Rev. H. A. Knight, Church of England

No	13
Date of Notice	28 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Duncan Stewart	Ruby Eileen Florizell Ashby
	💍 1920/5240
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woolsorter	domestic duties
Age	38	25
Dwelling Place	Fairton	Leithfield
Length of Residence	2 months	23 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Leithfield
Folio	2773
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Knight, Church of England

6 March 1920

William Selwyn Brady
Ivy Eileen Moodie

William Selwyn Brady
Ivy Ellen Moodie
💍 1920/5348

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
domestic duties

23
21

Tinwald
Tinwald

15 years
15 years

Church of England, Tinwald

2707

6 March 1920

Rev. H. B. Jones, Church of England

No	14
Date of Notice	6 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Selwyn Brady	Ivy Eileen Moodie
BDM Match (94%)	William Selwyn Brady	Ivy Ellen Moodie
	💍 1920/5348
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	domestic duties
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Tinwald	Tinwald
Length of Residence	15 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Tinwald
Folio	2707
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Jones, Church of England

8 March 1920

Henry George Nicol
Edna Winifred Mary Watson

Henry George McNicol
Edna Winifred Mary Watson
💍 1920/3926

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

25
21

Tinwald
Willowby

3 months
21 years

Methodist Church, Willowby

3181

8 March 1920

Rev. Samuel Bailey, Methodist

No	15
Date of Notice	8 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry George Nicol	Edna Winifred Mary Watson
BDM Match (95%)	Henry George McNicol	Edna Winifred Mary Watson
	💍 1920/3926
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Tinwald	Willowby
Length of Residence	3 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Willowby
Folio	3181
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Bailey, Methodist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).