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 2528

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 1920 Registrar J. Tyson

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

103

29 November 1920

Eric Beaumont Jackson
Isabel Mavis Heale

Eric Beaumont Jackson
Isabel Mavis Neale
💍 1920/9493

Bachelor
Spinster

Insurance and commission agent
Domestic duties

26
23

Nelson
Nelson

20 years
23 years

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson

11640

29 November 1920

Dr. G. E. Weeks, Church of England

No	103
Date of Notice	29 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Beaumont Jackson	Isabel Mavis Heale
BDM Match (97%)	Eric Beaumont Jackson	Isabel Mavis Neale
	💍 1920/9493
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Insurance and commission agent	Domestic duties
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	20 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	11640
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Dr. G. E. Weeks, Church of England

104

4 December 1920

Hugh McDonald
Myrtle Westley

Hugh McDonald
Myrtle Westley
💍 1920/9470

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
21

Nelson
Nelson

7 months
21 years

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson

11641

4 December 1920

Rev. J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England

No	104
Date of Notice	4 December 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh McDonald	Myrtle Westley
	💍 1920/9470
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	7 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	11641
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England

105

10 December 1920

George Edward Henry
Edith Letitia Bunker

George Edward Henry
Edith Letitia Bunker
💍 1920/9471

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic Servant

32
32

Nelson
Nelson

32 years
9 years

In the dwelling of George Kingston, Tasman Street, Nelson

11642

10 December 1920

Rev. G. B. Patchett, Methodist

No	105
Date of Notice	10 December 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Henry	Edith Letitia Bunker
	💍 1920/9471
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Servant
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	32 years	9 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling of George Kingston, Tasman Street, Nelson
Folio	11642
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 December 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Patchett, Methodist

106

11 December 1920

Robert Church
Leslie Ayna Richardson

Robert Church
Leslie Ayna Richardson
💍 1920/9472

Widower 4th February 1919
Spinster

Medical Practitioner
School Teacher

54
25

Nelson
Nelson

5 days
6 months

Plunket Rooms, Hardy Street, Nelson

11643

11 December 1920

Rev. G. B. Patchett, Methodist

No	106
Date of Notice	11 December 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Church	Leslie Ayna Richardson
	💍 1920/9472
Condition	Widower 4th February 1919	Spinster
Profession	Medical Practitioner	School Teacher
Age	54	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	5 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Plunket Rooms, Hardy Street, Nelson
Folio	11643
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 December 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Patchett, Methodist

107

16 December 1920

Percy Henry Ray Pope
Sarah Mavis Sword

Percy Henry Ney Pope
Sarah Mavis Twort
💍 1921/2281

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Shop Assistant

28
20

Nelson
Nelson

6 months
20 years

All Saints Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson

11644

Richard Sword, Father

16 December 1920

Rev. G. Prime Lowe, Church of England

No	107
Date of Notice	16 December 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Henry Ray Pope	Sarah Mavis Sword
BDM Match (89%)	Percy Henry Ney Pope	Sarah Mavis Twort
	💍 1921/2281
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Shop Assistant
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	6 months	20 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson
Folio	11644
Consent	Richard Sword, Father
Date of Certificate	16 December 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Prime Lowe, 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).