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 2522

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1920 Registrar S. 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

23 July 1920

William Searle
Grace Jane Park

William Searle
Grace Jane Park
💍 1920/8892

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

26
25

Nelson
Nelson

5 days
3 years

Church of Christ, Waimea Street, Nelson

8774

23 July 1920

Rev. P. A. Dickson, Church of Christ

No	43
Date of Notice	23 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Searle	Grace Jane Park
	💍 1920/8892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	5 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Waimea Street, Nelson
Folio	8774
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. A. Dickson, Church of Christ

24 July 1920

Robert Morton Forsher
Janet Brow Forsher

Robert Morton Forster
Janet Brow Forster
💍 1920/12475

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer
Schoolteacher

40
36

Nelson
Nelson

13 months
3 days

All Saints Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson

8775

27 July 1920

Rev. H. Irving Howe, Church of England

No	44
Date of Notice	24 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Morton Forsher	Janet Brow Forsher
BDM Match (95%)	Robert Morton Forster	Janet Brow Forster
	💍 1920/12475
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer	Schoolteacher
Age	40	36
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	13 months	3 days
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson
Folio	8775
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Irving Howe, Church of England

30 July 1920

James Alfred Hammond
Edith Dawson

James Alfred Hammond
Edith Dawson
💍 1920/8903

Widower 8th April 1918
Spinster

Coachbuilder
Domestic duties

55
32

Nelson
Nelson

4 years
4 days

Residence Lawrence Street Victoria Crescent Nelson

8776

30 July 1920

Rev. E. D. Patchett, Methodist

No	45
Date of Notice	30 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alfred Hammond	Edith Dawson
	💍 1920/8903
Condition	Widower 8th April 1918	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder	Domestic duties
Age	55	32
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence Lawrence Street Victoria Crescent Nelson
Folio	8776
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. D. Patchett, Methodist

30 July 1920

George Herbert Stewart
Hannah Mary Gear

George Herbert Stewart
Hannah Mary Fear
💍 1920/8905

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

24
21

Nelson
Nelson

2 1/2 years
5 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

8777

30 July 1920

S. Tyson, Registrar

No	46
Date of Notice	30 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Herbert Stewart	Hannah Mary Gear
BDM Match (97%)	George Herbert Stewart	Hannah Mary Fear
	💍 1920/8905
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	8777
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1920
Officiating Minister	S. Tyson, Registrar

5 August 1920

Edward Woodward
Lena Adeline Jenner

Edward Woodward
Vera Adeline Jenner
💍 1920/8906

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Housemaid

21
23

Nelson
Nelson

23 years
13 years

Presbyterian Church, Nile Street, Nelson

8778

5 August 1920

Rev. J. H. Gibb, Presbyterian

No	47
Date of Notice	5 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Woodward	Lena Adeline Jenner
BDM Match (95%)	Edward Woodward	Vera Adeline Jenner
	💍 1920/8906
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Housemaid
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	23 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Nile Street, Nelson
Folio	8778
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Gibb, Presbyterian

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).