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 2717

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar W. W. Samson

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

191

23 February 1920

William Edward Currie
Ada Annie Taylor

William Edward Currie
Ada Annie Taylor
💍 1920/3013

Bachelor
Widow. re. 12. 4. 8 (1915)

Porter

39
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
4 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

329

23 February 1920

Registrar

No	191
Date of Notice	23 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward Currie	Ada Annie Taylor
	💍 1920/3013
Condition	Bachelor	Widow. re. 12. 4. 8 (1915)
Profession	Porter
Age	39	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	329
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

192

24 February 1920

Alfred Henry Lancelot Godfrey
Ethel May Sillifant

Alfred Henry Lance Godfrey
Ethel May Sillifant
💍 1920/3014

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

33
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
5 months

Bible Hall Madras St Christchurch

330

24 February 1920

Mr. T. E. Boddington, Christadelphian

No	192
Date of Notice	24 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry Lancelot Godfrey	Ethel May Sillifant
BDM Match (95%)	Alfred Henry Lance Godfrey	Ethel May Sillifant
	💍 1920/3014
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	5 months
Marriage Place	Bible Hall Madras St Christchurch
Folio	330
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Mr. T. E. Boddington, Christadelphian

193

24 February 1920

Henry George Field
Rubina May Percival

Henry George Field
Rubina May Percival
💍 1920/3015

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

32
28

Christchurch
Sydenham

3 days
Life

St. Saviours Church Sydenham

331

24 February 1920

Rev. W. P. Hughes, Anglican

No	193
Date of Notice	24 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry George Field	Rubina May Percival
	💍 1920/3015
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Saviours Church Sydenham
Folio	331
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. P. Hughes, Anglican

194

24 February 1920

Eric Norman Webb
Kathleen Ira Baker

Eric Norman Webb
Kathleen Ira Baker
💍 1920/3016

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Engineer

30
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
22 years

Trinity Congregational Church Christchurch

332

24 February 1920

Rev. G. E. Moore, Congregational

No	194
Date of Notice	24 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Norman Webb	Kathleen Ira Baker
	💍 1920/3016
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Engineer
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Congregational Church Christchurch
Folio	332
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. E. Moore, Congregational

195

24 February 1920

Henry Cornelius Johnson
Edith Jane McLure

Henry Cornelius Johnson
Edith Jane McClure
💍 1920/3017

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman

29
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Christchurch

333

24 February 1920

Registrar

No	195
Date of Notice	24 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Cornelius Johnson	Edith Jane McLure
BDM Match (94%)	Henry Cornelius Johnson	Edith Jane McClure
	💍 1920/3017
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	333
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 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).