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 2661

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 June 1920 Registrar W. W. White

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

13 May 1920

Edwin Thomas Olds
Gladys May Stockdill

Edwin Thomas Olds
Gladys May Stockdill
💍 1920/6545

Bachelor
Spinster

letter-Carrier
Domestic duties

18
18

Allenton
Allenton

4 years
8 years

At the dwelling of William Stockdill Allenton

5915

Edwin Thomas Olds Father of Minor William Stockdill Father of Minor

13 May 1920

Rev. George Miller Presbyterian

No	52
Date of Notice	13 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Thomas Olds	Gladys May Stockdill
	💍 1920/6545
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	letter-Carrier	Domestic duties
Age	18	18
Dwelling Place	Allenton	Allenton
Length of Residence	4 years	8 years
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of William Stockdill Allenton
Folio	5915
Consent	Edwin Thomas Olds Father of Minor William Stockdill Father of Minor
Date of Certificate	13 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller Presbyterian

14 May 1920

William Stanley Verdon Fowke
Clara Evelyn Jessop

William Stanley Verdon Fowke
Clara Evelyn Jessop
💍 1920/6546

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach-builder
Domestic Duties

30
31

Hampstead
Ashburton

30 years
25 years

Baring Square Church Ashburton

5916

14 May 1920

Rev. T. W. Vealie Methodist

No	53
Date of Notice	14 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stanley Verdon Fowke	Clara Evelyn Jessop
	💍 1920/6546
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach-builder	Domestic Duties
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Hampstead	Ashburton
Length of Residence	30 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Baring Square Church Ashburton
Folio	5916
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Vealie Methodist

22 May 1920

David Arnold Valentine
Frances Victoria Naish

David Arnold Valentine
Frances Victoria Naish
💍 1920/6547

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool-Classer
Domestic Duties

28
18

Ashburton
Allenton

4 years
2 years

St. Stephen's Church of England Ashburton

5917

Harriet Ada Naish Mother of Minor

22 May 1920

Rev. J. F. Wiseman Church of England

No	54
Date of Notice	22 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Arnold Valentine	Frances Victoria Naish
	💍 1920/6547
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool-Classer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Allenton
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephen's Church of England Ashburton
Folio	5917
Consent	Harriet Ada Naish Mother of Minor
Date of Certificate	22 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Wiseman Church of England

22 May 1920

Alexander Lloyd Williams
Maggie Christina Patterson

Alexander Lloyd Williams
Maggie Christina Patterson
💍 1920/6548

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

25
26

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 days
14 days

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton

5918

22 May 1920

Rev. George Miller Presbyterian

No	55
Date of Notice	22 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Lloyd Williams	Maggie Christina Patterson
	💍 1920/6548
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	14 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton
Folio	5918
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller Presbyterian

24 May 1920

Thomas Crawford Crum
Viney Christina Douglas Crum

Thomas Crawford
Viney Christina Douglas Crum
💍 1920/6549

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

27
20

Netherby
Netherby

27 years
20 years

Baring Square Church Ashburton

5919

Margaret Elizabeth Crum Mother of Minor

24 May 1920

Rev. Thos. W. Vealie Methodist

No	56
Date of Notice	24 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Crawford Crum	Viney Christina Douglas Crum
BDM Match (88%)	Thomas Crawford	Viney Christina Douglas Crum
	💍 1920/6549
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Netherby	Netherby
Length of Residence	27 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Baring Square Church Ashburton
Folio	5919
Consent	Margaret Elizabeth Crum Mother of Minor
Date of Certificate	24 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. W. Vealie Methodist

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).