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 2715

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar J. G. L. Hewitt

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

181

23 February 1920

Francis Craze
Louisa Daisy Bridge

Francis Craze
Louisa Daisy Budge
💍 1920/2882

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Costumer

37
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
16 years

Methodist Church, Stanmore Rd, Christchurch

320

23 February 1920

Rev. W. Walker, Methodist

No	181
Date of Notice	23 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Craze	Louisa Daisy Bridge
BDM Match (95%)	Francis Craze	Louisa Daisy Budge
	💍 1920/2882
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Costumer
Age	37	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Stanmore Rd, Christchurch
Folio	320
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Walker, Methodist

182

23 February 1920

Carolus Gustovus Adolphus Sommers
Elizabeth Lilian Wauchop

Carolus Gustavus Adolphus Sommers
Elizabeth Lilian Wauchop
💍 1920/2883

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor
Teacher

31
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 months
20 years

St. John's Church, Christchurch

321

23 February 1920

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	182
Date of Notice	23 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Carolus Gustovus Adolphus Sommers	Elizabeth Lilian Wauchop
BDM Match (99%)	Carolus Gustavus Adolphus Sommers	Elizabeth Lilian Wauchop
	💍 1920/2883
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor	Teacher
Age	31	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 months	20 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	321
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

183

23 February 1920

Percy Sampson
Lucy Catherine Flavell

Percy Sampson
Lucy Catherine Flavell
💍 1920/2884

Bachelor
Spinster

Polisher

21
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 months
14 years

Methodist Church, Durham St, Christchurch

322

23 February 1920

Rev. S. Knight, Methodist

No	183
Date of Notice	23 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Sampson	Lucy Catherine Flavell
	💍 1920/2884
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Polisher
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 months	14 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Durham St, Christchurch
Folio	322
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Knight, Methodist

184

23 February 1920

Herbert Archibald Hamill
Olive Marita Quinn

Herbert Archibald Hamill
Olive Marita Quinn
💍 1920/2885

Bachelor
Spinster

Packer
Spinster

23
20

Christchurch
St. Albans

10 months
14 months

St. Mary's Church, Manchester St, Christchurch

323

Sarah Ann Quinn, mother

23 February 1920

Rev. C. H. Seymour, R.C.

No	184
Date of Notice	23 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Archibald Hamill	Olive Marita Quinn
	💍 1920/2885
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Packer	Spinster
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	10 months	14 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Manchester St, Christchurch
Folio	323
Consent	Sarah Ann Quinn, mother
Date of Certificate	23 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Seymour, R.C.

185

23 February 1920

John Alexander Lyttle
Phoebe Nelson

John Alexander Lyttle
Phoebe Nelson
💍 1920/3911

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker

24
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
16 years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch

3189

23 February 1920

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	185
Date of Notice	23 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alexander Lyttle	Phoebe Nelson
	💍 1920/3911
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch
Folio	3189
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, 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).