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 2723

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

221

2 March 1920

Ernest Ralph Verrall
Fanny May Jardine

Ernest Ralph Verrall
Fanny May Gardiner
💍 1920/2915

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

33
25

Upper Riccarton
Spreydon

3 days
3 days

St. Matthew's Church, Christchurch

357

2 March 1920

Rev. A. H. Shore, Anglican

No	221
Date of Notice	2 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Ralph Verrall	Fanny May Jardine
BDM Match (94%)	Ernest Ralph Verrall	Fanny May Gardiner
	💍 1920/2915
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Upper Riccarton	Spreydon
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	357
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Shore, Anglican

222

2 March 1920

Clarence Victor Brown
Ruby Ada Louisa Smart

Clarence Victor Brown
Ruby Ada Louisa Smart
💍 1920/2916

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi Cab Proprietor

26
26

Redcliffs
Lincoln

13 months
12 years

Methodist Church, Durham St., Christchurch

358

2 March 1920

Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

No	222
Date of Notice	2 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Victor Brown	Ruby Ada Louisa Smart
	💍 1920/2916
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi Cab Proprietor
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Redcliffs	Lincoln
Length of Residence	13 months	12 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Durham St., Christchurch
Folio	358
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

223

2 March 1920

Harold Transvaal McGrath
Nina Elizabeth Victoria Austen

Harold Transvaal McGrath
Nina Elizabeth Victoria Austin
💍 1920/3914

Bachelor
Spinster

Jockey

20
22

Christchurch
Woolston

3 days
Life

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

3192

Henry Jas. McGrath, Father

2 March 1920

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	223
Date of Notice	2 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Transvaal McGrath	Nina Elizabeth Victoria Austen
BDM Match (98%)	Harold Transvaal McGrath	Nina Elizabeth Victoria Austin
	💍 1920/3914
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jockey
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Woolston
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	3192
Consent	Henry Jas. McGrath, Father
Date of Certificate	2 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

224

2 March 1920

Charles Clark
Daisy O'Sullivan

Charles Clark
Daisy O'Sullivan
💍 1920/2917

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable

22
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
3 years

St. John's Church, Christchurch

359

2 March 1920

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	224
Date of Notice	2 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Clark	Daisy O'Sullivan
	💍 1920/2917
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	359
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

225

2 March 1920

Henry Alexander Francis Gregg
Evelyn Mary Andrews

Henry Alexander Francis Gregge
Evelyn Mary Andrews
💍 1920/2918

Bachelor
Spinster

Stonemason
Tailoress

24
22

Addington
Spreydon

1 year
5 weeks

St. Mary's Church, Addington

360

2 March 1920

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	225
Date of Notice	2 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Alexander Francis Gregg	Evelyn Mary Andrews
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Alexander Francis Gregge	Evelyn Mary Andrews
	💍 1920/2918
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason	Tailoress
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Addington	Spreydon
Length of Residence	1 year	5 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	360
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

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).