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 2733

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

271

16 March 1920

Albert Nelson Tillman
Ruby Margaret Ellen Fellingham

Albert Nelson Tillman
Ruby Margaret Ellen Fellingham
💍 1920/2936

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Clerk

30
21

Papanui
Christchurch

3 days
21 years

Residence of Mr. A. H. Fellingham, 20 Lancaster St. Christchurch

400

16 March 1920

Rev. W. Tanner, Presbyterian

No	271
Date of Notice	16 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Nelson Tillman	Ruby Margaret Ellen Fellingham
	💍 1920/2936
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Clerk
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. A. H. Fellingham, 20 Lancaster St. Christchurch
Folio	400
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Tanner, Presbyterian

272

16 March 1920

Martin Henry Giddens
Emma Elizabeth Plaisted

Martin Henry Giddens
Emma Elizabeth Plaisted
💍 1920/2820

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Engineer

28
21

Sydenham
Christchurch

3 years
2 years

St. David's Church Sydenham

401

16 March 1920

Rev. J. W. Webster, Presbyterian

No	272
Date of Notice	16 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin Henry Giddens	Emma Elizabeth Plaisted
	💍 1920/2820
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Engineer
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Church Sydenham
Folio	401
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Webster, Presbyterian

273

16 March 1920

Frank Leslie Luff
Violet Evelyn Maysel De Vine

Frank Leslie Luff
Violet Ethelwyn Maysel De Vine
💍 1920/2831

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
7 1/2 years

St. Andrew's Manse Christchurch

402

16 March 1920

Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

No	273
Date of Notice	16 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Leslie Luff	Violet Evelyn Maysel De Vine
BDM Match (95%)	Frank Leslie Luff	Violet Ethelwyn Maysel De Vine
	💍 1920/2831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	7 1/2 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse Christchurch
Folio	402
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

274

16 March 1920

Leonard David Richards
Myrtle Annie Hiddlestone

Leonard David Richards
Myrtle Annie Hiddlestone
💍 1920/2838

Bachelor
Spinster

Coal Merchant

29
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

29 years
24 years

Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch

403

16 March 1920

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	274
Date of Notice	16 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard David Richards	Myrtle Annie Hiddlestone
	💍 1920/2838
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coal Merchant
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	29 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Oxford Terrace Christchurch
Folio	403
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

275

16 March 1920

Archie Douglas Moller
Muriel Caroline Courtney

Archie Douglas Moller
Muriel Caroline Courtney
💍 1920/3921

Bachelor
Spinster

Engraver
Dentist Assistant

34
24

Fisherton
Papanui

10 years
10 years

Residence of Mr. W. J. Courtney, 72 Papanui Rd, Papanui

3198

16 March 1920

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	275
Date of Notice	16 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archie Douglas Moller	Muriel Caroline Courtney
	💍 1920/3921
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engraver	Dentist Assistant
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Fisherton	Papanui
Length of Residence	10 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. W. J. Courtney, 72 Papanui Rd, Papanui
Folio	3198
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 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).