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 2692

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

21 January 1920

Alford Groves
Florence Winn

Alfred Groves
Florence Winn
💍 1920/2702

Widower, 6 July 1908
Spinster

Labourer

53
40

Christchurch
Sydenham

14 years
30 years

Residence of Mrs. B. Winn, 22 Angus St. Sydenham

216

21 January 1920

Rev. John Webster, Presbyterian

No	66
Date of Notice	21 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alford Groves	Florence Winn
BDM Match (92%)	Alfred Groves	Florence Winn
	💍 1920/2702
Condition	Widower, 6 July 1908	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	53	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	14 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. B. Winn, 22 Angus St. Sydenham
Folio	216
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Webster, Presbyterian

21 January 1920

Henry Toone Morton
Lorna Hamilton Robinson

Henry Thorne Morton
Lorna Hamilton Robinson
💍 1920/2703

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

31
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
Life

St. Mary's Church, Merivale

217

21 January 1920

Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

No	67
Date of Notice	21 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Toone Morton	Lorna Hamilton Robinson
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Thorne Morton	Lorna Hamilton Robinson
	💍 1920/2703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Merivale
Folio	217
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Haggitt, Anglican

21 January 1920

Teuira Owens Wakefield
Alice Maud Naish

Timaru Owers Wakefield
Alice Maud Naish
💍 1920/2704

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman N.Z.R.
Milliner

22
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 months
3 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

218

Harriet A. Naish, mother

21 January 1920

Registrar

No	68
Date of Notice	21 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Teuira Owens Wakefield	Alice Maud Naish
BDM Match (89%)	Timaru Owers Wakefield	Alice Maud Naish
	💍 1920/2704
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman N.Z.R.	Milliner
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	218
Consent	Harriet A. Naish, mother
Date of Certificate	21 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

21 January 1920

Laurence Vinton Robertson
Marguerite Rollinshaw

Laurence Winton Robertson
Marguerite Rollinshaw
💍 1920/2705

Bachelor
Divorced, decree absolute 16 January 1920

Engineer N.Z.R.

25
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 months
3 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

219

21 January 1920

Registrar

No	69
Date of Notice	21 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Laurence Vinton Robertson	Marguerite Rollinshaw
BDM Match (98%)	Laurence Winton Robertson	Marguerite Rollinshaw
	💍 1920/2705
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced, decree absolute 16 January 1920
Profession	Engineer N.Z.R.
Age	25	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	219
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

21 January 1920

Francis Arthur Tanner
Gladys May Hammersley

Frances Arthur Tanner
Gladys May Hammersley
💍 1920/2707

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer
School Teacher

28
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
13 years

Methodist Church, Shirley

220

Robt. A. Hammersley, Father

21 January 1920

Rev. W. C. Oliver, Methodist

No	70
Date of Notice	21 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Arthur Tanner	Gladys May Hammersley
BDM Match (98%)	Frances Arthur Tanner	Gladys May Hammersley
	💍 1920/2707
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer	School Teacher
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	13 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Shirley
Folio	220
Consent	Robt. A. Hammersley, Father
Date of Certificate	21 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. C. Oliver, 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).