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 2834

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

753

10 July 1920

Albert Edward Dobbie
Mabel Annie Martin

Albert Edward Dobbie
Mabel Annie Martin
💍 1920/7509

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker
Typiste

23
34

Christchurch
Cashmere Hills

8 years
2 1/2 years

St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans.

7301

10 July 1920

Rev. C. Coates, Anglican

No	753
Date of Notice	10 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Dobbie	Mabel Annie Martin
	💍 1920/7509
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Typiste
Age	23	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Cashmere Hills
Length of Residence	8 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans.
Folio	7301
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Coates, Anglican

754

12 July 1920

William Edmund Baxter
Ivy Blanche Gamble

William Edmund Baxter
Ivy Blanche Gamble
💍 1920/7520

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

28
26

Russells Flat
Addington

3 months
9 months

Methodist Church, Clarence Rd, Riccarton.

7302

12 July 1920

Rev. A. H. Fowles, Methodist

No	754
Date of Notice	12 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edmund Baxter	Ivy Blanche Gamble
	💍 1920/7520
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Russells Flat	Addington
Length of Residence	3 months	9 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Clarence Rd, Riccarton.
Folio	7302
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Fowles, Methodist

755

12 July 1920

Sydney Lambert Smith
Gertrude Kate Gibbons

Sydney Lambert Smith
Gertrude Kate Gibbons
💍 1920/7527

Bachelor
Widow 25. 1. 1918

Shepherd

41
38

St. Albans
St. Albans

Life
31 years

Dwelling of Rev. S. P. Blamires, 143 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

7303

12 July 1920

Rev. S. P. Blamires, Methodist

No	755
Date of Notice	12 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Lambert Smith	Gertrude Kate Gibbons
	💍 1920/7527
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 25. 1. 1918
Profession	Shepherd
Age	41	38
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	31 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Rev. S. P. Blamires, 143 Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	7303
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. P. Blamires, Methodist

756

12 July 1920

Albert James Partridge
Jean Burns Hetherington

Albert James Partridge
Jean Burns Hetherington
💍 1920/7528

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Tailoress

21
22

Burwood
Christchurch

Life
3 months

Methodist Church, Shirley.

7304

12 July 1920

Mr. H. Spencer, Methodist

No	756
Date of Notice	12 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert James Partridge	Jean Burns Hetherington
	💍 1920/7528
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Tailoress
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Burwood	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	3 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Shirley.
Folio	7304
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Mr. H. Spencer, Methodist

757

12 July 1920

Colin Hart
Martha Edith King

Colin Hart
Martha Edith King
💍 1920/7529

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Foreman
Clerk

23
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
22 years

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch.

7305

12 July 1920

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	757
Date of Notice	12 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Colin Hart	Martha Edith King
	💍 1920/7529
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Foreman	Clerk
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch.
Folio	7305
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, 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).