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 2657

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

05 April 1920

David William Seaton McLaughlin
Margaret Eleanor White

David William Seaton McLaughlin
Margaret Eleanor White
💍 1920/6313

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Clerk

39
57

Ashburton
Ashburton Netherby

3 days
37 years

St. Stephens Church of England Ashburton

5896

05 April 1920

Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

No	32
Date of Notice	05 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David William Seaton McLaughlin	Margaret Eleanor White
	💍 1920/6313
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Clerk
Age	39	57
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton Netherby
Length of Residence	3 days	37 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church of England Ashburton
Folio	5896
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Church of England

06 April 1920

Thomas Bolger
Catherine Bradley

Thomas Bolger
Catherine Bradley
💍 1920/12287

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
domestic duties

30
25

Ashburton
Tinwald

3 days
25 years

Roman Catholic Church Ashburton

5897

06 April 1920

Very Rev. J. J. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

No	33
Date of Notice	06 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Bolger	Catherine Bradley
	💍 1920/12287
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	domestic duties
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Tinwald
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Ashburton
Folio	5897
Consent
Date of Certificate	06 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. J. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

06 April 1920

Harry Martin
Jane McKay

Harry Martin
Jane McKay
💍 1920/6314

Bachelor
Spinster

labourer
domestic duties

23
20

Trevorton
Ashburton

23 years
20 years

at the dwelling of J. McKay, Havelock Street, Ashburton

5898

James Ross McKay, father of Minor

06 April 1920

Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

No	34
Date of Notice	06 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Martin	Jane McKay
	💍 1920/6314
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	labourer	domestic duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Trevorton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of J. McKay, Havelock Street, Ashburton
Folio	5898
Consent	James Ross McKay, father of Minor
Date of Certificate	06 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

07 April 1920

John Edward Moore
Margaret Cairns

John Edward Moore
Margaret Cairns
💍 1920/6315

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

57
29

Seaview
Wakanui

57 years
29 years

Presbyterian Church Wakanui

5899

07 April 1920

Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

No	35
Date of Notice	07 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Moore	Margaret Cairns
	💍 1920/6315
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	57	29
Dwelling Place	Seaview	Wakanui
Length of Residence	57 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Wakanui
Folio	5899
Consent
Date of Certificate	07 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller, Presbyterian

12 April 1920

Sidney Cyril Evans
Aileen Catherine Niven

Sidney Cyril Evans
Aileen Catherine Niven
💍 1920/12288

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Tailoress

22
23

Allenton
Allenton

14 days
15 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery Ashburton

5900

12 April 1920

Very Rev. J. J. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

No	36
Date of Notice	12 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Cyril Evans	Aileen Catherine Niven
	💍 1920/12288
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Tailoress
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Allenton	Allenton
Length of Residence	14 days	15 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Ashburton
Folio	5900
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. J. O'Donnell, Roman Catholic

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).