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 2750

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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

356

30 March 1920

Sidney George Rayfield
Elsie Emily Letcher

Sidney George Rayfield
Elsie Emily Neither
💍 1920/2952

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Dressmaker

25
24

Richmond
St. Albans

5 years
5 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

467

30 March 1920

Registrar

No	356
Date of Notice	30 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney George Rayfield	Elsie Emily Letcher
BDM Match (92%)	Sidney George Rayfield	Elsie Emily Neither
	💍 1920/2952
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Dressmaker
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Richmond	St. Albans
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	467
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

357

30 March 1920

Walter Herbert Hodgins
Helena Deborah Lawlor

Walter Herbert Hodgins
Helena Deborah Lawlor
💍 1920/2953

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic

30
28

Christchurch
St. Albans

10 months
1 1/2 years

St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch

468

30 March 1920

Rev. P. Regnault, Roman Catholic

No	357
Date of Notice	30 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Herbert Hodgins	Helena Deborah Lawlor
	💍 1920/2953
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	10 months	1 1/2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch
Folio	468
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Regnault, Roman Catholic

358

30 March 1920

Frank Robert Longley
Helen Elizabeth Shaw

Frank Robert Longley
Helen Elizabeth Shaw
💍 1920/2954

Frank Connolly
Ethel May Elizabeth Shaw
💍 1920/7227

Bachelor
Spinster

Chairmaker

21
21

Christchurch
Riccarton

2 months
2 months

Methodist Parsonage, 54 Chester Street, Christchurch

469

30 March 1920

Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

No	358
Date of Notice	30 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Robert Longley	Helen Elizabeth Shaw
	💍 1920/2954
BDM Match (60%)	Frank Connolly	Ethel May Elizabeth Shaw
	💍 1920/7227
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chairmaker
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage, 54 Chester Street, Christchurch
Folio	469
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

359

30 March 1920

Stanley Pepper
Gladys Etty Radford

Stanley Pepper
Gladys Etty Radford
💍 1920/5915

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24
24

Papanui
Papanui

20 years
5 days

St. Paul's Church, Papanui

3212

30 March 1920

Rev. H. Orbell, Anglican

No	359
Date of Notice	30 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Pepper	Gladys Etty Radford
	💍 1920/5915
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	20 years	5 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Papanui
Folio	3212
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Orbell, Anglican

360

30 March 1920

Duncan McFarlane
Marion Bessie Wilson

Duncan McFarlane
Marion Bessie Wilson
💍 1920/5916

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

24
23

Christchurch
Gore

2 1/2 years
10 years

Residence of Mr W. N. Wilson, Charlton Road, Gore

3213

30 March 1920

Rev. F. De Lisle, Congregational

No	360
Date of Notice	30 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan McFarlane	Marion Bessie Wilson
	💍 1920/5916
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Gore
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr W. N. Wilson, Charlton Road, Gore
Folio	3213
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. De Lisle, Congregational

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).