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 2833

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

748

9 July 1920

Edwin William Cowdrey
Rachel Mason

Edwin William Cowdrey
Rachel Mason
💍 1920/7447

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
2 months

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

7296

9 July 1920

Rev. W. P. Hughes, Anglican

No	748
Date of Notice	9 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin William Cowdrey	Rachel Mason
	💍 1920/7447
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	2 months
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	7296
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. P. Hughes, Anglican

749

9 July 1920

Robert John Yates
Pearl Elizabeth Crothers

Robert John Yates
Pearl Elizabeth Crothers
💍 1920/7448

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist

31
22

Woolston
Addington

26 years
15 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

7297

9 July 1920

Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

No	749
Date of Notice	9 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Yates	Pearl Elizabeth Crothers
	💍 1920/7448
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Addington
Length of Residence	26 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	7297
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

750

9 July 1920

Harry March Dann
Edith Mary Goode

Harry Marsh Dann
Edith Mary Goode
💍 1920/7449

Widower 20. 9. 17
Spinster

Plumber

30
22

Christchurch
St. Albans

2 1/2 years
22 years

Methodist Church, Madras Street, St. Albans

7298

9 July 1920

Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

No	750
Date of Notice	9 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry March Dann	Edith Mary Goode
BDM Match (97%)	Harry Marsh Dann	Edith Mary Goode
	💍 1920/7449
Condition	Widower 20. 9. 17	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Madras Street, St. Albans
Folio	7298
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

751

9 July 1920

Harold Joseph Henry
Doris Edith Cooper

Harold Joseph Henry
Doris Edith Cooper
💍 1920/7450

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver

23
19

Sydenham
Sydenham

23 years
12 years

St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham

7299

Edith Emma Cooper (mother)

9 July 1920

Rev. W. P. Hughes, Anglican

No	751
Date of Notice	9 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Joseph Henry	Doris Edith Cooper
	💍 1920/7450
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	23 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham
Folio	7299
Consent	Edith Emma Cooper (mother)
Date of Certificate	9 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. P. Hughes, Anglican

752

10 July 1920

Robert James Clarke
Ellen Mary Hartley

Robert James Clarke
Ellen Mary Hartley
💍 1920/7451

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Tailoress

[illegible]
19

Riccarton
Papanui

20 years
8 years

Dwelling of Mr. R. Hartley, 14 Claridge Rd, Papanui

7300

Robert Hartley (father)

10 July 1920

Rev. D. D. Rodger, Presbyterian

No	752
Date of Notice	10 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Clarke	Ellen Mary Hartley
	💍 1920/7451
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Tailoress
Age	[illegible]	19
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Papanui
Length of Residence	20 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. R. Hartley, 14 Claridge Rd, Papanui
Folio	7300
Consent	Robert Hartley (father)
Date of Certificate	10 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. D. Rodger, 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).