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 2482

District of Motueka Quarter ending 30 September 1920 Registrar Guy Scott

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

19 July 1920

August Frederick Hugo Siegler
Martha Wratten

August Fredrick Hugo Sixtus
Martha Wratten
💍 1920/9221

Widower 5-7-12
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

51
30

Motueka
Lower Moutere

3 months
30 years

Residence of Mr. H. Wratten, Lower Moutere

8756

19 July 1920

Rev. C. W. Brown, Methodist Minister

No	22
Date of Notice	19 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	August Frederick Hugo Siegler	Martha Wratten
BDM Match (90%)	August Fredrick Hugo Sixtus	Martha Wratten
	💍 1920/9221
Condition	Widower 5-7-12	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	51	30
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Lower Moutere
Length of Residence	3 months	30 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. H. Wratten, Lower Moutere
Folio	8756
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. W. Brown, Methodist Minister

19 July 1920

Charles Rowarangi (Rourangi)
Kapurangi Te Hauri

Charlie Rourangi
Kapurangi Te Kauri
💍 1920/9222

Bachelor
Widow 10-9-18

Farmer
Domestic Duties

22
26

Motueka
Motueka

5 months
3 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Motueka

8757

19 July 1920

Guy Scott, Registrar of Marriages, Motueka

No	23
Date of Notice	19 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Rowarangi (Rourangi)	Kapurangi Te Hauri
BDM Match (72%)	Charlie Rourangi	Kapurangi Te Kauri
	💍 1920/9222
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 10-9-18
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	22	26
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Motueka
Length of Residence	5 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Motueka
Folio	8757
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Guy Scott, Registrar of Marriages, Motueka

24 July 1920

Douglas Flint
Cora Florence McLean

Douglas Flint
Cora Florence McLean
💍 1920/9223

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27
35

Kaiteriteri
Riwaka

2 months
35 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Motueka

8758

24 July 1920

Guy Scott, Registrar of Marriages, Motueka

No	24
Date of Notice	24 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Flint	Cora Florence McLean
	💍 1920/9223
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	35
Dwelling Place	Kaiteriteri	Riwaka
Length of Residence	2 months	35 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Motueka
Folio	8758
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Guy Scott, Registrar of Marriages, Motueka

26 July 1920

Leslie Norman Kemp
Ethel May Harvey

Leslie Norman Kemp
Ethel May Harvey
💍 1920/9203

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
23

Takaka
Marahau

7 months
18 years

Residence of Mr. G. Harvey, Marahau

8759

26 July 1920

Rev. C. W. Harvey, Presbyterian Minister

No	25
Date of Notice	26 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Norman Kemp	Ethel May Harvey
	💍 1920/9203
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Takaka	Marahau
Length of Residence	7 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. G. Harvey, Marahau
Folio	8759
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. W. Harvey, Presbyterian Minister

3 August 1920

Walter Oliver Leaver
Linda Cornelia Harvey

Walter Oliver Leaver
Linda Cornelia Harvey
💍 1920/9204

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill worker
Domestic Duties

34
24

Moutere
Moutere

6 years
24 years

Residence of T. Benjamin, Motueka

8760

26 July 1920

Rev. W. Grundy, Presbyterian Minister

No	26
Date of Notice	3 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Oliver Leaver	Linda Cornelia Harvey
	💍 1920/9204
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill worker	Domestic Duties
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Moutere	Moutere
Length of Residence	6 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of T. Benjamin, Motueka
Folio	8760
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Grundy, Presbyterian Minister

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).