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 2785

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

525

4 May 1920

Benjamin Lawrence Clarke
Wilhelmina Clark

Benjamin Lawrence Clarke
Wilhelmina Clark
💍 1920/5777

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor car Trimmer

33
32

Spreydon
Spreydon

12 months
6 years

Residence of Mr J. Clark, 48 Tankerville Street, Spreydon

3750

4 May 1920

Rev. J. Watt, Presbyterian

No	525
Date of Notice	4 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Lawrence Clarke	Wilhelmina Clark
	💍 1920/5777
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor car Trimmer
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	12 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J. Clark, 48 Tankerville Street, Spreydon
Folio	3750
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Watt, Presbyterian

526

4 May 1920

Alfred Thomas Le Gros
Paulina Pearl Manson

Alfred Thomas Le Gros
Rubenia Pearl Manson
💍 1920/5778

Bachelor
Spinster

Leather Grinder
Waitress

24
24

Riccarton
Riccarton

2 years
12 years

Presbyterian Church, Riccarton

3751

4 May 1920

Rev. H. O. White, Presbyterian

No	526
Date of Notice	4 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Thomas Le Gros	Paulina Pearl Manson
BDM Match (88%)	Alfred Thomas Le Gros	Rubenia Pearl Manson
	💍 1920/5778
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Leather Grinder	Waitress
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	2 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Riccarton
Folio	3751
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. O. White, Presbyterian

527

4 May 1920

Ernest Lynn Williams
Julia Dennis

Ernest Lynn Williams
Julia Dennis
💍 1920/5779

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
24

Christchurch
Papanui

3 days
8 years

St Pauls Church, Papanui

3752

4 May 1920

Rev. W. H. Orbell, Anglican

No	527
Date of Notice	4 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Lynn Williams	Julia Dennis
	💍 1920/5779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Papanui
Length of Residence	3 days	8 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church, Papanui
Folio	3752
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Orbell, Anglican

528

4 May 1920

Charlesworth Albiston
Eleanor Isabella Richards

Charlesworth Albiston
Eleanor Isabella Richards
💍 1920/5780

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

30
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
10 years

St Johns Church, Christchurch

3753

4 May 1920

Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

No	528
Date of Notice	4 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charlesworth Albiston	Eleanor Isabella Richards
	💍 1920/5780
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Church, Christchurch
Folio	3753
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks, Anglican

529

5 May 1920

James Royston Bennett
Helen Eliza de Luen

James Roystan Bennett
Helen Eliza de Luen
💍 1920/5781

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot Importer

24
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
18 years

Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

3754

5 May 1920

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	529
Date of Notice	5 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Royston Bennett	Helen Eliza de Luen
BDM Match (98%)	James Roystan Bennett	Helen Eliza de Luen
	💍 1920/5781
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot Importer
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	3754
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

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).