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 2835

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

758

13 July 1920

Ernest Albert Tanner
Agnes Ellen Rose McMinn

Ernest Albert Tanner
Agnes Ellen Rose McMinn
💍 1920/7530

Bachelor
Spinster

Second Hand Clothier
Machinist

31
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
23 years

Residence of Mr R. McMinn, 296 Manchester Street, Christchurch

7306

13 July 1920

Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

No	758
Date of Notice	13 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Albert Tanner	Agnes Ellen Rose McMinn
	💍 1920/7530
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Second Hand Clothier	Machinist
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr R. McMinn, 296 Manchester Street, Christchurch
Folio	7306
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

759

13 July 1920

Francis Richard Joseph Anthony
Alice Berridge

Francis Richard Joseph Anthony
Alice Berridge
💍 1920/7531

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Milliner

32
31

Richmond
Richmond

3 days
6 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

7307

13 July 1920

Registrar

No	759
Date of Notice	13 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Richard Joseph Anthony	Alice Berridge
	💍 1920/7531
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Milliner
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Richmond
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	7307
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

760

14 July 1920

William Alastair McQueen
Alexandrina Margaret Gunn

William Alastair McQueen
Alexandrena Margaret Gunn
💍 1920/7532

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
Life

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

7308

14 July 1920

Rev. W. McAra, Presbyterian

No	760
Date of Notice	14 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alastair McQueen	Alexandrina Margaret Gunn
BDM Match (98%)	William Alastair McQueen	Alexandrena Margaret Gunn
	💍 1920/7532
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	7308
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. McAra, Presbyterian

761

14 July 1920

Arthur James Young
Ethel Viva Robinson

Arthur James Young
Ethel Viva Robinson
💍 1920/7510

Arthur Ernest Jeffs
Ethel Maud Robinson
💍 1920/10515

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

36
39

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
8 years

St. Mary's Church, Merivale

7310

14 July 1920

Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

No	761
Date of Notice	14 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur James Young	Ethel Viva Robinson
	💍 1920/7510
BDM Match (66%)	Arthur Ernest Jeffs	Ethel Maud Robinson
	💍 1920/10515
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	36	39
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Merivale
Folio	7310
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

762

14 July 1920

James William Henry Hoskins
Kathleen Stevenson

James William Henry Hoskins
Kathleen Stevenson
💍 1920/7533

Bachelor
Spinster

Boilermaker

36
21

Christchurch
Fendalton

8 years
1 year

Methodist Church, Durham St, Christchurch

7309

14 July 1920

Rev. W. Ready, Methodist

No	762
Date of Notice	14 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Henry Hoskins	Kathleen Stevenson
	💍 1920/7533
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker
Age	36	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Fendalton
Length of Residence	8 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Durham St, Christchurch
Folio	7309
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Ready, Methodist

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).