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 2707

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

141

10 February 1920

John Kiely, commonly known as John Joseph Butler
Minnie May Charles

John Joseph Butler
Minnie May Charles
💍 1920/2744

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

27
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
5 months

St Mary's Church, Manchester St, Christchurch

283

10 February 1920

Rev. C. H. Seymour, Roman Catholic

No	141
Date of Notice	10 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kiely, commonly known as John Joseph Butler	Minnie May Charles
BDM Match (69%)	John Joseph Butler	Minnie May Charles
	💍 1920/2744
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	5 months
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Manchester St, Christchurch
Folio	283
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Seymour, Roman Catholic

142

10 February 1920

Henry John Douglas Bernard
Alma Isabella Hill

Henry John Douglas Barnard
Alma Isabella Hill
💍 1920/2721

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

19
19

Papanui
Papanui

19 years
9 years

Knox Church, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch

284

Fredk Jas Bernard, Father; Samuel Hill, Father

10 February 1920

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	142
Date of Notice	10 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Douglas Bernard	Alma Isabella Hill
BDM Match (98%)	Henry John Douglas Barnard	Alma Isabella Hill
	💍 1920/2721
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	19	19
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	19 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	284
Consent	Fredk Jas Bernard, Father; Samuel Hill, Father
Date of Certificate	10 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

143

11 February 1920

Henry Stanton
Eugenie Minnie Tillman

Henry Stanton
Eugenie Minnie Tillman
💍 1920/2722

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
24

Woolston
Papanui

4 days
19 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

285

11 February 1920

Registrar

No	143
Date of Notice	11 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Stanton	Eugenie Minnie Tillman
	💍 1920/2722
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Papanui
Length of Residence	4 days	19 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	285
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

144

11 February 1920

Henry Albert Wilson
Doris Montgomery

Henry Albert Milsom
Doris Montgomery
💍 1920/2723

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Machinist

26
23

Merivale
Merivale

2 months
2 months

Methodist Church, St Albans

286

11 February 1920

Rev. A. C. Lawry, Methodist

No	144
Date of Notice	11 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Albert Wilson	Doris Montgomery
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Albert Milsom	Doris Montgomery
	💍 1920/2723
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Machinist
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Merivale	Merivale
Length of Residence	2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, St Albans
Folio	286
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Lawry, Methodist

145

11 February 1920

David Falls
Ina May Brown

David Falls
Ina May Brown
💍 1920/2724

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Waitress

25
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 month
1 month

Residence of Rev. R. Erwin, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch

287

11 February 1920

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	145
Date of Notice	11 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Falls	Ina May Brown
	💍 1920/2724
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Waitress
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 month	1 month
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. Erwin, Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	287
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

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).