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 2795

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

565

18 May 1920

Alexander Leslie Craigie
Janet Isabella Clephane

Alexander Leslie Craigie
Janet Isabella Clephane
💍 1920/288

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch.

3789

18 May 1920

Rev. D. D. Rodger, Presbyterian

No	565
Date of Notice	18 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Leslie Craigie	Janet Isabella Clephane
	💍 1920/288
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch.
Folio	3789
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. D. Rodger, Presbyterian

566

18 May 1920

Jacob Henry Moorar
Ada Wilshire

Jacob Henry Mooar
Ada Wilshire
💍 1920/289

Widower. October 26, 1918.
Widow August 25, 1915.

Carpenter

42
46

Riccarton
Riccarton

10 years
2 months

Residence of Mr. Moorar, 9, Anderson Street, Riccarton.

3790

18 May 1920

Rev. J. D. Webster, Presbyterian

No	566
Date of Notice	18 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jacob Henry Moorar	Ada Wilshire
BDM Match (97%)	Jacob Henry Mooar	Ada Wilshire
	💍 1920/289
Condition	Widower. October 26, 1918.	Widow August 25, 1915.
Profession	Carpenter
Age	42	46
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	10 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Moorar, 9, Anderson Street, Riccarton.
Folio	3790
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Webster, Presbyterian

567

18 May 1920

William Bernard O'Reilly
Martha Mary Robinson

William Bernard O'Reilly
Martha Mary Robinson
💍 1920/290

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

23
23

Opawa
Sydenham

14 months
3 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

3791

18 May 1920

Rev. J. Long, R. C.

No	567
Date of Notice	18 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Bernard O'Reilly	Martha Mary Robinson
	💍 1920/290
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Sydenham
Length of Residence	14 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	3791
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Long, R. C.

568

18 May 1920

John Louis Davis
Doris Annie Farmer

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

29
24

Marseilles
Spreydon

6 months
12 months

Marseilles, France. [Note: Copy of this marriage + cannot be obtained no definite particulars June y [initials] 26 JUL 1920. Section VI. Marriage Amendment Act, 1915.]

No	568
Date of Notice	18 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Louis Davis	Doris Annie Farmer
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Marseilles	Spreydon
Length of Residence	6 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Marseilles, France. [Note: Copy of this marriage + cannot be obtained no definite particulars June y [initials] 26 JUL 1920. Section VI. Marriage Amendment Act, 1915.]
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

569

19 May 1920

Leslie Evans
Emma Alice Shaw

Leslie Evans
Emma Alice Shaw
💍 1920/291

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Driver
Tailoress

26
22

Spreydon
Spreydon

21 years
18 years

Congregational Church, Worcester Street, Christchurch.

3792

19 May 1920

Rev. W. H. A. Vickery, Congregational

No	569
Date of Notice	19 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Evans	Emma Alice Shaw
	💍 1920/291
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Driver	Tailoress
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	21 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Worcester Street, Christchurch.
Folio	3792
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. A. Vickery, Congregational

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).