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 2685

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

12 January 1920

Claude Lorraine Trimbell
Margaret Gaudion King

Claude Lorraine Timbrell
Margaret Gaudion King
💍 1920/3927

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Clerk

27
23

Shirley
St. Albans

14 years
19 years

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

3182

12 January 1920

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	31
Date of Notice	12 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude Lorraine Trimbell	Margaret Gaudion King
BDM Match (96%)	Claude Lorraine Timbrell	Margaret Gaudion King
	💍 1920/3927
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Clerk
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Shirley	St. Albans
Length of Residence	14 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	3182
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

12 January 1920

Harold Twentyman Wilson
Charlotte May Huffam

Harold Twentyman Wilson
Charlotte May Huffam
💍 1920/2694

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

30
23

Marshland
Christchurch

25 years
5 years

Methodist Church, Shirley

184

12 January 1920

Mr. H. Spencer, Methodist

No	32
Date of Notice	12 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Twentyman Wilson	Charlotte May Huffam
	💍 1920/2694
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Marshland	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Shirley
Folio	184
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Mr. H. Spencer, Methodist

12 January 1920

Edward George Fox
Phoebe Florrie Leeson

Edward George Fox
Phoebe Florrie Leeson
💍 1920/2671

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Tailoress

25
23

Christchurch
Sydenham

1 year
6 years

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

185

12 January 1920

Rev. W. P. Hughes, Anglican

No	33
Date of Notice	12 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward George Fox	Phoebe Florrie Leeson
	💍 1920/2671
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Tailoress
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	185
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. P. Hughes, Anglican

12 January 1920

John Smith Henderson
Edith Ann Taylor

John Smith Henderson
Edith Ann Taylor
💍 1920/2672

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

34
31

Papanui
Papanui

5 days
31 years

St. Paul's Church, Papanui

186

12 January 1920

Rev. W. H. Orbell, Anglican

No	34
Date of Notice	12 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Smith Henderson	Edith Ann Taylor
	💍 1920/2672
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	31
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	5 days	31 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Papanui
Folio	186
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Orbell, Anglican

14 January 1920

Sidney Thomas Reid
Clara Frances Amelia Huntly

Sidney Thomas Reid
Clara Frances Amelia Huntly
💍 1920/2673

Bachelor
Spinster

Land Agent

31
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
4 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

187

14 January 1920

Registrar

No	35
Date of Notice	14 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Thomas Reid	Clara Frances Amelia Huntly
	💍 1920/2673
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land Agent
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	187
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 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).