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 2506

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 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

10 January 1920

Albert John Stewart
Adelaide Jane Cowie

Albert John Stewart
Adelaide Jane Cowie
💍 1920/5172

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

31
25

Nelson
Nelson

9 years
3 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

2624

10 January 1920

Mr. S. Tyson, Registrar of Marriages

No	6
Date of Notice	10 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Stewart	Adelaide Jane Cowie
	💍 1920/5172
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	9 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	2624
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Mr. S. Tyson, Registrar of Marriages

12 January 1920

William Ernest Trevett
Lily Jane Morea Davidson Monigatti

William Ernest Trevett
Lily Jane Morea Davidson Monigatti
💍 1920/5173

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

30
20

Nelson
Nelson

7 years
6 years

All Saints Church, Nelson

2625

John Thomas Monigatti, Father

12 January 1920

Rev. J. R. Dart, Church of England

No	7
Date of Notice	12 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ernest Trevett	Lily Jane Morea Davidson Monigatti
	💍 1920/5173
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	7 years	6 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Nelson
Folio	2625
Consent	John Thomas Monigatti, Father
Date of Certificate	12 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Dart, Church of England

13 January 1920

Alfred Kennedy Sloan
Dorothea Maria Cortzen

Alfred Kennedy Sloan
Dorothea Maria Cortzjen
💍 1920/3813

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic Duties

27
22

Nelson
Nelson

17 years
22 years

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson

2626

13 January 1920

Rev. G. E. Weeks, Church of England

No	8
Date of Notice	13 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Kennedy Sloan	Dorothea Maria Cortzen
BDM Match (98%)	Alfred Kennedy Sloan	Dorothea Maria Cortzjen
	💍 1920/3813
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic Duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	17 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	2626
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. E. Weeks, Church of England

19 January 1920

Reuben Bryce Goulding
Dorothy Frances Berger

Reuben Bryce Goulding
Dorothy Frances Berger
💍 1920/3824

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Tailoress

23
23

Nelson
Nelson

4 days
4 years

Methodist Church, Hardy Street, Nelson

2627

19 January 1920

Rev. E. D. Patchett, Methodist

No	9
Date of Notice	19 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reuben Bryce Goulding	Dorothy Frances Berger
	💍 1920/3824
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Tailoress
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Hardy Street, Nelson
Folio	2627
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. D. Patchett, Methodist

22 January 1920

Howard Ellis
Dorothy Eva Louisa Grimmett

Howard Ellis
Dorothy Eva Louisa Grimmett
💍 1920/3831

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Domestic Duties

26
26

Nelson
Nelson

22 years
26 years

Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson

2628

22 January 1920

Rev. H. W. Austin, Church of England

No	10
Date of Notice	22 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Howard Ellis	Dorothy Eva Louisa Grimmett
	💍 1920/3831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Domestic Duties
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	22 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Christ Church Cathedral, Nelson
Folio	2628
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Austin, 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).