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 2848

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

823

5 August 1920

Frederick John Dickie
Anita Dorothy Warren

Frederick John Dickie
Anita Dorothy Warren
💍 1920/6114

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Shop Assistant

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
23 years

Residence of Mrs. Prestige, 38 Richmond Terrace, Christchurch

7367

5 August 1920

Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

No	823
Date of Notice	5 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Dickie	Anita Dorothy Warren
	💍 1920/6114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Shop Assistant
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Prestige, 38 Richmond Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	7367
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

824

6 August 1920

Arthur William Rait
Beatrice Harvey

Arthur William Rait
Beatrice Harvey
💍 1920/6115

Widower, March 1907
Spinster

Nightwatchman

42
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 years
11 years

Baptist Manse, 271 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

7368

6 August 1920

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	824
Date of Notice	6 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Rait	Beatrice Harvey
	💍 1920/6115
Condition	Widower, March 1907	Spinster
Profession	Nightwatchman
Age	42	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Manse, 271 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	7368
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

825

7 August 1920

Albert Herbert Morris
Martha Eleanor McLean

Albert Herbert Morris
Martha Eleanor McLean
💍 1920/6116

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home duties

34
25

Belfast
Belfast

3 days
Life

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

7369

7 August 1920

Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

No	825
Date of Notice	7 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Herbert Morris	Martha Eleanor McLean
	💍 1920/6116
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home duties
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Belfast	Belfast
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	7369
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

826

9 August 1920

Percy William Miller
Natalie Olive Broome

Percy William Miller
Natalie Olive Broome
💍 1920/6118

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant

27
25

Fendalton
Addington

23 years
Life

St. Mary's Church, Addington

7370

9 August 1920

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	826
Date of Notice	9 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy William Miller	Natalie Olive Broome
	💍 1920/6118
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	Addington
Length of Residence	23 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	7370
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

827

9 August 1920

William Harry Odell
Eleanor May Maynard

William Harry Odell
Eleanor May Maynard
💍 1920/6119

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

22
24

Linwood
Linwood

9 years
3 weeks

Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

7371

9 August 1920

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	827
Date of Notice	9 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Harry Odell	Eleanor May Maynard
	💍 1920/6119
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	9 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	7371
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

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).