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 2698

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

27 January 1920

Charles Malcolm Lamont
Mabel Marjorie Clark

Charles Malcolm Lamont
Mabel Marjorie Clark
💍 1920/2131

Bachelor
Spinster

Tramway Conductor
Schoolteacher

31
25

St. Albans
St. Albans

9 months
1 year

Wesley Church, Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch

240

27 January 1920

Rev. W. Baumber, Methodist

No	96
Date of Notice	27 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Malcolm Lamont	Mabel Marjorie Clark
	💍 1920/2131
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tramway Conductor	Schoolteacher
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	9 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Wesley Church, Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	240
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Baumber, Methodist

28 January 1920

George Philip Sage
Marjory Glen

George Philip Sage
Marjory Glen
💍 1920/2132

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Clerk

24
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 days
18 months

Residence of Mrs. Glen, 145 Bealey Avenue, Christchurch

241

28 January 1920

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	97
Date of Notice	28 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Philip Sage	Marjory Glen
	💍 1920/2132
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Clerk
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 days	18 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Glen, 145 Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
Folio	241
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

29 January 1920

Gordon Alexander McLaren
Annie Agnes Walker

Gordon Alexander McLaren
Annie Agnes Walker
💍 1920/2133

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician

21
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 years
10 months

Residence of Mr. T. H. Davies, 7 Dewsbury Lane, Sydenham

242

James Walker, Father

29 January 1920

Rev. W. Beckett, Methodist

No	98
Date of Notice	29 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Alexander McLaren	Annie Agnes Walker
	💍 1920/2133
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. T. H. Davies, 7 Dewsbury Lane, Sydenham
Folio	242
Consent	James Walker, Father
Date of Certificate	29 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beckett, Methodist

29 January 1920

James Shaw
Hannah Cheetham

James Shaw
Hannah Cheetham
💍 1920/2134

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

32
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
6 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

243

29 January 1920

Registrar

No	99
Date of Notice	29 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Shaw	Hannah Cheetham
	💍 1920/2134
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	32	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	243
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

100

29 January 1920

Valentine Leslie Palmer
Eleanor Kidston

Valentine Leslie Palmer
Eleanor Kidston
💍 1920/2136

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Teacher

25
22

Wellington
Christchurch

1 year
1 year

Residence of Mr. W. Kidston, 24 Rugby St., Merivale

244

29 January 1920

Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

No	100
Date of Notice	29 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Valentine Leslie Palmer	Eleanor Kidston
	💍 1920/2136
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Teacher
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. W. Kidston, 24 Rugby St., Merivale
Folio	244
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).