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 2734

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

276

16 March 1920

Edward Joseph Muir Dethier
Kathleen Ada Horwell

Edward Joseph Muir Dethier
Kathleen Ada Horwell
💍 1920/2839

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman

24
21

Hornby
Sockburn

5 years
14 years

St. Peter's Church Riccarton

404

16 March 1920

Rev. H. T. York, Anglican

No	276
Date of Notice	16 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Joseph Muir Dethier	Kathleen Ada Horwell
	💍 1920/2839
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Hornby	Sockburn
Length of Residence	5 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church Riccarton
Folio	404
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. T. York, Anglican

277

18 March 1920

Thomas Alfred Nicholson
Daisy Bushell

Thomas Alfred Nicholson
Daisy Bushell
💍 1920/2840

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

28
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
5 days

Residence of Mr. Guy, 179 Salisbury St. Christchurch

405

18 March 1920

Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

No	277
Date of Notice	18 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Alfred Nicholson	Daisy Bushell
	💍 1920/2840
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Guy, 179 Salisbury St. Christchurch
Folio	405
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

278

18 March 1920

Hugh Rodgers Inglis
Violet Jane Gill Corson

Hugh Rodgers Inglis
Violet Jane Gill Cardno
💍 1920/2841

Divorced Decree Absolute sealed 20. 2. 1913
Divorced Decree Absolute dated 12. 3. 1920

Commission Agent

51
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 weeks
1 month

Registrar's Office Christchurch

406

18 March 1920

Registrar

No	278
Date of Notice	18 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Rodgers Inglis	Violet Jane Gill Corson
BDM Match (91%)	Hugh Rodgers Inglis	Violet Jane Gill Cardno
	💍 1920/2841
Condition	Divorced Decree Absolute sealed 20. 2. 1913	Divorced Decree Absolute dated 12. 3. 1920
Profession	Commission Agent
Age	51	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 weeks	1 month
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	406
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

279

18 March 1920

Henry John Devonshire
Ivy Amelia Muriel Bailey

Henry John Devonshire
Ivy Amelia Muriel Bailey
💍 1920/5940

Widower 16. 3. 1917
Spinster

Blacksmith
Music Teacher

32
21

Templeton
Templeton

8 years
20 years

St. Saviour's Church Templeton

6414

18 March 1920

Rev. E. Webb, Anglican

No	279
Date of Notice	18 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Devonshire	Ivy Amelia Muriel Bailey
	💍 1920/5940
Condition	Widower 16. 3. 1917	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Music Teacher
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Templeton	Templeton
Length of Residence	8 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church Templeton
Folio	6414
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Webb, Anglican

280

18 March 1920

John Henry Scoltock
Frances Miriam Fleet

John Henry Scoltock
Frances Miriam Fleet
💍 1920/2842

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer

26
21

Lincoln
Greenpark

17 years
13 years

St. Mark's Church Greenpark

407

18 March 1920

Rev. H. A. Wilkinson, Anglican

No	280
Date of Notice	18 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Scoltock	Frances Miriam Fleet
	💍 1920/2842
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Lincoln	Greenpark
Length of Residence	17 years	13 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church Greenpark
Folio	407
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Wilkinson, 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).