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 2710

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

156

14 February 1920

William James Vesey Hamilton
Frances Ella Wynn Harley

William James Vesey Hamilton
Frances Ella Wynn Harley
💍 1920/2735

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24
22

Redcliffs
Christchurch

1 year
2 days

St. Mary's Church, Merivale

297

14 February 1920

Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

No	156
Date of Notice	14 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Vesey Hamilton	Frances Ella Wynn Harley
	💍 1920/2735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Redcliffs	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	2 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Merivale
Folio	297
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

157

14 February 1920

James Leith Jamieson
Alice McHugh

James Leith Jamieson
Alice McHugh
💍 1920/2736

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

26
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 days
14 days

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

298

14 February 1920

Rev. J. O'Connor, R.C.

No	157
Date of Notice	14 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Leith Jamieson	Alice McHugh
	💍 1920/2736
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 days	14 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	298
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Connor, R.C.

158

14 February 1920

George Richard Flintoff
Cassie Clarke

George Richard Flintoff
Cassie Clarke
💍 1920/2021

Widower, 12 April 1916
Spinster

Wellsinker

37
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 years
18 months

Salvation Army Home, 263 Bealey Avenue, Christchurch

300

14 February 1920

W. Fraser, Salvation Army

No	158
Date of Notice	14 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Richard Flintoff	Cassie Clarke
	💍 1920/2021
Condition	Widower, 12 April 1916	Spinster
Profession	Wellsinker
Age	37	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Home, 263 Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	300
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1920
Officiating Minister	W. Fraser, Salvation Army

159

14 February 1920

Frederick James Kiddie
Fanny Kerr

Frederick James Kiddle
Fanny Kerr
💍 1920/2737

Bachelor
Widow, August 1916

Rubber Worker

32
32

Spreydon
Sydenham

6 months
10 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St, Christchurch

299

14 February 1920

Rev. J. Kennedy, R.C.

No	159
Date of Notice	14 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick James Kiddie	Fanny Kerr
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick James Kiddle	Fanny Kerr
	💍 1920/2737
Condition	Bachelor	Widow, August 1916
Profession	Rubber Worker
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Sydenham
Length of Residence	6 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St, Christchurch
Folio	299
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Kennedy, R.C.

160

16 February 1920

William George Chegwin
Emmeline Ivy Broach

William George Chegwin
Emmeline Ivy Breach
💍 1920/2870

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser

26
23

Sydenham
St. Albans

Life
14 years

Methodist Church, Durham St., Christchurch

301

16 February 1920

Rev. W. Baumber, Methodist

No	160
Date of Notice	16 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Chegwin	Emmeline Ivy Broach
BDM Match (97%)	William George Chegwin	Emmeline Ivy Breach
	💍 1920/2870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	St. Albans
Length of Residence	Life	14 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Durham St., Christchurch
Folio	301
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Baumber, Methodist

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).