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 2674

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 December 1930 Registrar H. O. Cooney

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

109

28 October 1930

David Stumbles
Jane Ann McIntyre McCormick

David Stumbles
Jane Anne McIntyre McCormick
💍 1920/9544

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

40
36

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 days
3 days

St Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton

11715

28 October 1930

Rev. George Miller Presbyterian

No	109
Date of Notice	28 October 1930
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Stumbles	Jane Ann McIntyre McCormick
BDM Match (98%)	David Stumbles	Jane Anne McIntyre McCormick
	💍 1920/9544
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	40	36
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton
Folio	11715
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1930
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller Presbyterian

110

28 October 1930

Henry George Frampton
Martha Stewart

Henry George Frampton
Martha Stewart
💍 1920/9545

Widower 11 December 1911
Widow 23 November 1918

Farmer
Domestic duties

59
36

Willowby
Ashburton

59 years
7 years

Presbyterian Manse Ashburton

11716

28 October 1930

Rev. George Miller Presbyterian

No	110
Date of Notice	28 October 1930
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry George Frampton	Martha Stewart
	💍 1920/9545
Condition	Widower 11 December 1911	Widow 23 November 1918
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	59	36
Dwelling Place	Willowby	Ashburton
Length of Residence	59 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse Ashburton
Folio	11716
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1930
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller Presbyterian

111

1 November 1930

Richard George Whean
Flora McLachlan Miller

Richard George McLean
Flora McLachlan Miller
💍 1920/9546

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

23
25

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 days
3 months

St Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton

11717

1 November 1930

Rev. George Miller Presbyterian

No	111
Date of Notice	1 November 1930
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard George Whean	Flora McLachlan Miller
BDM Match (93%)	Richard George McLean	Flora McLachlan Miller
	💍 1920/9546
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton
Folio	11717
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1930
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller Presbyterian

112

1 November 1930

Frederick Clark
Mary Louisa Yarwood Purchase

Frederick Clark
Mary Louisa Yarwood Purchase
💍 1920/9547

Widower 11 Oct 1916
Spinster

Carpenter
House-keeper

45
39

Allenton
Allenton

8 years
8 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton

11718

1 November 1930

Rev. George Miller Presbyterian

No	112
Date of Notice	1 November 1930
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Clark	Mary Louisa Yarwood Purchase
	💍 1920/9547
Condition	Widower 11 Oct 1916	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	House-keeper
Age	45	39
Dwelling Place	Allenton	Allenton
Length of Residence	8 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church Ashburton
Folio	11718
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1930
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Miller Presbyterian

113

3 November 1930

Fred Henry Merwyn Greenaway
Annie Elizabeth Whiting

Henry Mervyn Greenaway
Annie Elizabeth Whiting
💍 1920/9548

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

30
30

Eiffelton
Eiffelton

7 years
3 years

Church of England Waterton

11719

3 November 1930

Rev. J. F. Feron Church of England

No	113
Date of Notice	3 November 1930
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred Henry Merwyn Greenaway	Annie Elizabeth Whiting
BDM Match (89%)	Henry Mervyn Greenaway	Annie Elizabeth Whiting
	💍 1920/9548
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Eiffelton	Eiffelton
Length of Residence	7 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Waterton
Folio	11719
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1930
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Feron Church of England

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).