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 2806

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

620

31 May 1920

Walker Mullon
Esther Elizabeth Searle

Walker Mullon
Esther Elizabeth Harlo
💍 1920/7974

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

32
43

Linwood
Linwood

10 years
3 years

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

3841

31 May 1920

Rev. O. Fitz Gerald, Anglican

No	620
Date of Notice	31 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walker Mullon	Esther Elizabeth Searle
BDM Match (94%)	Walker Mullon	Esther Elizabeth Harlo
	💍 1920/7974
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	32	43
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	3841
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitz Gerald, Anglican

621

31 May 1920

James Henry Graham
Florence Agnes Maria Woodward

James Henry Graham
Florence Agnes Marion Woodward
💍 1920/7975

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Clerk

33
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
12 years

St. Luke's Church, St. Albans

3842

31 May 1920

Rev. F. N. Taylor, Anglican

No	621
Date of Notice	31 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Graham	Florence Agnes Maria Woodward
BDM Match (97%)	James Henry Graham	Florence Agnes Marion Woodward
	💍 1920/7975
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Clerk
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, St. Albans
Folio	3842
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. N. Taylor, Anglican

622

31 May 1920

John James Ludhope
Ethel Needham

John James Tudhope
Ethel Needham
💍 1920/7976

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Tailoress

39
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

30 years
Life

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

3843

31 May 1920

Registrar

No	622
Date of Notice	31 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Ludhope	Ethel Needham
BDM Match (97%)	John James Tudhope	Ethel Needham
	💍 1920/7976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Tailoress
Age	39	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 years	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	3843
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

623

31 May 1920

Walter Jackson
Doris Hegna Maud Guthrie

Walter Jackson
Doris Ilena Maud Guthrie
💍 1920/7977

Divorced. Decree Absolute dated 31. 1. 1920
Spinster

Traveller

39
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
16 years

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

3844

31 May 1920

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	623
Date of Notice	31 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Jackson	Doris Hegna Maud Guthrie
BDM Match (94%)	Walter Jackson	Doris Ilena Maud Guthrie
	💍 1920/7977
Condition	Divorced. Decree Absolute dated 31. 1. 1920	Spinster
Profession	Traveller
Age	39	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	3844
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

624

31 May 1920

Reginald Harold Hamilton
Leah Isobel Rickerby

Reginald Harold Hamilton
Leah Isobel Rickerby
💍 1920/7978

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Salesman

34
22

St. Albans
Papanui

15 months
6 years

St. Paul's Church, Papanui

3845

31 May 1920

Rev. W. H. Orbell, Anglican

No	624
Date of Notice	31 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Harold Hamilton	Leah Isobel Rickerby
	💍 1920/7978
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Salesman
Age	34	22
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Papanui
Length of Residence	15 months	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Papanui
Folio	3845
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Orbell, Anglican

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).