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 2775

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

475

24 April 1920

Edwin Peattie
Florence Ellenor Rebecca Garson

Edwin Peattie
Florence Ellenor Rebecca Carson
💍 1920/5729

Widower 17. 4. 19
Widow 26. 6. 17

Motor Proprietor

53
43

Linwood
Linwood

3 days
30 years

Residence of Mr. D. B. Sealey, 18 Newcastle St, Linwood

3700

24 April 1920

Rev. W. Tanner, Presbyterian

No	475
Date of Notice	24 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Peattie	Florence Ellenor Rebecca Garson
BDM Match (98%)	Edwin Peattie	Florence Ellenor Rebecca Carson
	💍 1920/5729
Condition	Widower 17. 4. 19	Widow 26. 6. 17
Profession	Motor Proprietor
Age	53	43
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 days	30 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. D. B. Sealey, 18 Newcastle St, Linwood
Folio	3700
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Tanner, Presbyterian

476

24 April 1920

John Llewellyn Down
Lena Hannah Carter

John Llewellyn Down
Lena Hannah Carter
💍 1920/5730

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Dressmaker

34
35

Spreydon
Fendalton

30 years
3 years

St Michael's Church Christchurch

3701

24 April 1920

Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

No	476
Date of Notice	24 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Llewellyn Down	Lena Hannah Carter
	💍 1920/5730
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Dressmaker
Age	34	35
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Fendalton
Length of Residence	30 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St Michael's Church Christchurch
Folio	3701
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

477

24 April 1920

Frank Parry
Maud Sterling Brimble

Frank Parry
Maud Sterling Brimble
💍 1920/5731

Bachelor
Spinster

Foundry mechanic

32
23

St Albans
Sydenham

7 years
18 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St Christchurch

3702

24 April 1920

Rev. J. Long, Roman Catholic

No	477
Date of Notice	24 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Parry	Maud Sterling Brimble
	💍 1920/5731
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foundry mechanic
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	St Albans	Sydenham
Length of Residence	7 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbadoes St Christchurch
Folio	3702
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Long, Roman Catholic

478

24 April 1920

Laurence Edward Williams
Janet Mary Rogers

Lawrence Edward Williams
Janet Mary Rogers
💍 1920/5732

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
38

Redcliffs
Christchurch

3 weeks
9 months

Church of England Shirley

3703

24 April 1920

Rev. J. H. Rogers, Anglican

No	478
Date of Notice	24 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Laurence Edward Williams	Janet Mary Rogers
BDM Match (98%)	Lawrence Edward Williams	Janet Mary Rogers
	💍 1920/5732
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	38
Dwelling Place	Redcliffs	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	9 months
Marriage Place	Church of England Shirley
Folio	3703
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Rogers, Anglican

479

24 April 1920

Cyril Raybon Chilcott
Elsie Alma Campbell

Cyril Rayburn Chilcott
Elsie Alma Campbell
💍 1920/5740

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser

22
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 months
2 months

Residence of Mr. B. Campbell 520 Armagh St Christchurch

3704

Duncan Campbell, Father

24 April 1920

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	479
Date of Notice	24 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril Raybon Chilcott	Elsie Alma Campbell
BDM Match (95%)	Cyril Rayburn Chilcott	Elsie Alma Campbell
	💍 1920/5740
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. B. Campbell 520 Armagh St Christchurch
Folio	3704
Consent	Duncan Campbell, Father
Date of Certificate	24 April 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).