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 2679

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1920

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

1 January 1920

John Ernest McKeown
Ellen Mitchell

John Ernest McKeawn
Ellen Mitchell
💍 1920/2765

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

30
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
5 months

St. Pauls Church Christchurch

155

1 January 1920

Rev. J Paterson, Presbyterian

No	1
Date of Notice	1 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ernest McKeown	Ellen Mitchell
BDM Match (97%)	John Ernest McKeawn	Ellen Mitchell
	💍 1920/2765
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	5 months
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church Christchurch
Folio	155
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J Paterson, Presbyterian

3 January 1920

John Anderson Douglas Thomson
Maud Leonora Martin

John Anderson Douglas Thomson
Maud Leonora Martin
💍 1920/2766

Widower 20/6/18
Spinster

Schoolmaster
Nurse

46
40

Christchurch
Fendalton

5 days
1 week

Residence of Mr G. Dawson 8 Poynder Avenue Fendalton

156

3 January 1920

Rev. W. Grigg, Methodist

No	2
Date of Notice	3 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Anderson Douglas Thomson	Maud Leonora Martin
	💍 1920/2766
Condition	Widower 20/6/18	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster	Nurse
Age	46	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Fendalton
Length of Residence	5 days	1 week
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr G. Dawson 8 Poynder Avenue Fendalton
Folio	156
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Grigg, Methodist

3 January 1920

Andrew Bryce Boyd
Ethel McPhail

Andrew Bryce Boyd
Ethel McPhail
💍 1920/2767

Bachelor
Previously married but not heard of husband for 11 years last past.

Barman

26
34

Sydenham
Sydenham

2 months
2 years

Registrars Office Christchurch

157

3 January 1920

Registrar

No	3
Date of Notice	3 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Bryce Boyd	Ethel McPhail
	💍 1920/2767
Condition	Bachelor	Previously married but not heard of husband for 11 years last past.
Profession	Barman
Age	26	34
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Christchurch
Folio	157
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

5 January 1920

William John Watson
Olive Marion Gray

William John Watson
Olive Marion Gray
💍 1920/2768

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

33
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 months
1 year

Residence of Mrs Gunn 515 Manchester Street Christchurch

158

5 January 1920

Rev. W. McAra, Presbyterian

No	4
Date of Notice	5 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Watson	Olive Marion Gray
	💍 1920/2768
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	33	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Gunn 515 Manchester Street Christchurch
Folio	158
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. McAra, Presbyterian

5 January 1920

Eglon Sercombe
Caroline Ann Hatherley

Eglon Sercombe
Caroline Ann Hatherley
💍 1920/2769

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
22

Sydenham
Sydenham

9 months
16 years

Registrars Office Christchurch

159

5 January 1920

Registrar

No	5
Date of Notice	5 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eglon Sercombe	Caroline Ann Hatherley
	💍 1920/2769
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	9 months	16 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Christchurch
Folio	159
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).