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 2866

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

912

6 September 1920

Eugene Clement McDermott
Margaret Mary French

Eugene Clement McDermott
Margaret Mary French
💍 1920/7651

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
27

Halswell
St. Albans

2 years
1 year

St. Mary's Church Manchester St. Christchurch

7455

6 September 1920

Rev. J. M. Roche, Roman Catholic

No	912
Date of Notice	6 September 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eugene Clement McDermott	Margaret Mary French
	💍 1920/7651
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	Halswell	St. Albans
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Manchester St. Christchurch
Folio	7455
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 September 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Roche, Roman Catholic

913

7 September 1920

Alfred Lewis Carrell
Mary Frances Keenan

Alfred Lewis Carrell
Mary Frances Keenan
💍 1920/7652

Widower 17 November 1918
Spinster

Boilermaker

28
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

Life
7 months

St. Michael's Church Christchurch

7456

7 September 1920

Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

No	913
Date of Notice	7 September 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Lewis Carrell	Mary Frances Keenan
	💍 1920/7652
Condition	Widower 17 November 1918	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	7 months
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church Christchurch
Folio	7456
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 September 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Perry, Anglican

914

7 September 1920

Wilfred Arthur Hopkins
Ethel Mary Newman

Wilfred Arthur Hopkins
Ethel Mary Newman
💍 1920/7653

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

23
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
16 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

7457

7 September 1920

Rev. J. Long, Roman Catholic

No	914
Date of Notice	7 September 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilfred Arthur Hopkins	Ethel Mary Newman
	💍 1920/7653
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	7457
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 September 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Long, Roman Catholic

915

7 September 1920

Matthew Moody Molloy
Ethel May Leaman

Matthew Moody Molloy
Ethel May Leaman
💍 1920/7654

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer

25
18

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 weeks
2 weeks

Residence of Mrs. W. Molloy 61 Hastings St Sydenham

7458

Samuel Leaman, Father

7 September 1920

Rev. J. W. Webster, Presbyterian

No	915
Date of Notice	7 September 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Moody Molloy	Ethel May Leaman
	💍 1920/7654
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. W. Molloy 61 Hastings St Sydenham
Folio	7458
Consent	Samuel Leaman, Father
Date of Certificate	7 September 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Webster, Presbyterian

916

7 September 1920

Robert Sydney Smith
Amelia Julia A'Court

Robert Sydney Smith
Amelia Julia A'Court
💍 1920/7655

Widower 20 March 1912
Divorced Decree Absolute 6 September 1920

Labourer

50
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
5 years

Residence of Mrs Kettenburg 15 Hassall's Rd. Opawa

7459

7 September 1920

Rev. W. Beckett, Methodist

No	916
Date of Notice	7 September 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Sydney Smith	Amelia Julia A'Court
	💍 1920/7655
Condition	Widower 20 March 1912	Divorced Decree Absolute 6 September 1920
Profession	Labourer
Age	50	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Kettenburg 15 Hassall's Rd. Opawa
Folio	7459
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 September 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beckett, 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).