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 2839

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

778

19 July 1920

James Bell
Margaret Elizabeth Going

James Bell
Margaret Elizabeth Going
💍 1920/7526

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31
24

Ladbrooks
Halswell

15 years
27 years

St. Mary's Church, Halswell

7325

19 July 1920

Rev. G. H. Oldham, Anglican

No	778
Date of Notice	19 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Bell	Margaret Elizabeth Going
	💍 1920/7526
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Ladbrooks	Halswell
Length of Residence	15 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Halswell
Folio	7325
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Oldham, Anglican

779

20 July 1920

James Duncan
Margaret Ethel Austin

James Duncan
Margaret Ethel Austin
💍 1920/6081

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Shop Assistant

36
29

Sydenham
Christchurch

10 years
3 years

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

7326

20 July 1920

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	779
Date of Notice	20 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Duncan	Margaret Ethel Austin
	💍 1920/6081
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Shop Assistant
Age	36	29
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	7326
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

780

20 July 1920

Samuel James Gibson
Florence Martha Curtis

Samuel James Gibson
Florence Martha Curtis
💍 1920/6092

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home duties

30
24

Riccarton
Riccarton

1 week
1 week

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

7327

20 July 1920

Rev. S. W. Walker, Presbyterian

No	780
Date of Notice	20 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel James Gibson	Florence Martha Curtis
	💍 1920/6092
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home duties
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	7327
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. W. Walker, Presbyterian

781

20 July 1920

William Waterson
Annie Elizabeth Constance

William Waterson
Annie Elizabeth Constance
💍 1920/6099

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Cook

30
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

30 years
4 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

7328

20 July 1920

Registrar

No	781
Date of Notice	20 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Waterson	Annie Elizabeth Constance
	💍 1920/6099
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Cook
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	7328
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

782

20 July 1920

Victor Henry Blackmore
Margaret Miller

Victor Henry Blackmore
Margaret Miller
💍 1920/6100

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

18
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
18 years

Residence of Mr C. Miller, 234 Ferry Rd., Linwood

7329

Ellen Theresa Blackmore (Mother); Charles Miller (Father)

20 July 1920

Rev. J. K. Archer, Baptist

No	782
Date of Notice	20 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Henry Blackmore	Margaret Miller
	💍 1920/6100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	18	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr C. Miller, 234 Ferry Rd., Linwood
Folio	7329
Consent	Ellen Theresa Blackmore (Mother); Charles Miller (Father)
Date of Certificate	20 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Archer, Baptist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).