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 2688

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

15 January 1920

[illegible] McConchie
Eileen Smith

Arthur George McConchie
Eileen Smith
💍 1920/2685

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter
Machinist

22
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 yrs
7 yrs

Mr. W. Pepper, 35 Mackworth St. Woolston

198

15 January 1920

Rev. F. Copeland, Methodist

No	46
Date of Notice	15 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	[illegible] McConchie	Eileen Smith
BDM Match (72%)	Arthur George McConchie	Eileen Smith
	💍 1920/2685
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter	Machinist
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 yrs	7 yrs
Marriage Place	Mr. W. Pepper, 35 Mackworth St. Woolston
Folio	198
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Copeland, Methodist

15 January 1920

Hugh Christmas
Maggie Philomena Gilroy

Hugh Christmas
Maggie Philomena Gilboy
💍 1920/2686

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi Proprietor
Tailoress

42
39

Christchurch
Linwood

10 yrs
8 yrs

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St. Christchurch

199

15 January 1920

Rev. J. A. Kennedy, R.C.

No	47
Date of Notice	15 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Christmas	Maggie Philomena Gilroy
BDM Match (98%)	Hugh Christmas	Maggie Philomena Gilboy
	💍 1920/2686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi Proprietor	Tailoress
Age	42	39
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	10 yrs	8 yrs
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St. Christchurch
Folio	199
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Kennedy, R.C.

15 January 1920

Joseph Percy Morgan
Catherine Ellen Thomas

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 weeks
3 yrs

Salvation Army Home, 263 Bealey Ave St. Albans

See file

No person having authority in N.Z. to give consent

20 January 1920

W. Fraser, Salvation Army

No	48
Date of Notice	15 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Percy Morgan	Catherine Ellen Thomas
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 weeks	3 yrs
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Home, 263 Bealey Ave St. Albans
Folio	See file
Consent	No person having authority in N.Z. to give consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1920
Officiating Minister	W. Fraser, Salvation Army

16 January 1920

Desmond Archer Turner
Dorothy May Forsyth

Desmond Arthur Turner
Dorothy May Forsyth
💍 1920/2687

Bachelor
Spinster

Hardware Salesman
Tailoress

20
24

St. Albans
St. Albans

4 yrs
20 yrs

Residence of Mr. D. M. Forsyth, 477 Madras St. St. Albans

200

A. Turner, Father

16 January 1920

Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

No	49
Date of Notice	16 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Desmond Archer Turner	Dorothy May Forsyth
BDM Match (95%)	Desmond Arthur Turner	Dorothy May Forsyth
	💍 1920/2687
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hardware Salesman	Tailoress
Age	20	24
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	4 yrs	20 yrs
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. D. M. Forsyth, 477 Madras St. St. Albans
Folio	200
Consent	A. Turner, Father
Date of Certificate	16 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward, Methodist

16 January 1920

William Jesse Robson
Ethelwyn Adeline Green

William Jesse Robson
Ethelwyn Adeline Green
💍 1920/2695

Divorced. Dec. absolute dated 14. 9. 1911
Spinster

Jailer
Dressmaker

53
41

Christchurch
North New Brighton

50 yrs
41 yrs

Methodist Parsonage, Chester St. Christchurch

201

16 January 1920

Rev. P. Knight, Methodist

No	50
Date of Notice	16 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jesse Robson	Ethelwyn Adeline Green
	💍 1920/2695
Condition	Divorced. Dec. absolute dated 14. 9. 1911	Spinster
Profession	Jailer	Dressmaker
Age	53	41
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	North New Brighton
Length of Residence	50 yrs	41 yrs
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage, Chester St. Christchurch
Folio	201
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Knight, 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).