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 2390

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 December 1920 Registrar C. E. Butcher

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

30 October 1920

Richard William Beal
Rachel Guard

Richard William Beal
Rachal Guard
💍 1920/9716

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Schoolteacher

31
23

Blenheim
Kakapo Bay, Port Underwood

31 years
23 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

20/11580

30 October 1920

Ven Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

No	94
Date of Notice	30 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard William Beal	Rachel Guard
BDM Match (96%)	Richard William Beal	Rachal Guard
	💍 1920/9716
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Schoolteacher
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Kakapo Bay, Port Underwood
Length of Residence	31 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	20/11580
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Ven Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

30 October 1920

William Vergurson
Ina Beatrice Walker

William Vergurson
Ina Beatrice Walker
💍 1920/9717

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer
Domestic Duties

32
27

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 years
1 week

St. Luke's Church, Spring Creek

20/11581

30 October 1920

Rev. W. Wollstein, Church of England

No	95
Date of Notice	30 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Vergurson	Ina Beatrice Walker
	💍 1920/9717
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 years	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Spring Creek
Folio	20/11581
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Wollstein, Church of England

6 November 1920

Cyril Herbert Elvy
Grace Viola Rollason Ball

Cyril Herbert Elvy
Grace Viola Rollason Ball
💍 1920/9718

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Shorthand-typist

26
23

Ward
Ward

25 years
6 weeks

St Peters Church, Ward

20/11582

6 November 1920

Ven Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

No	96
Date of Notice	6 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril Herbert Elvy	Grace Viola Rollason Ball
	💍 1920/9718
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Shorthand-typist
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Ward	Ward
Length of Residence	25 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	St Peters Church, Ward
Folio	20/11582
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Ven Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

8 November 1920

William Townley Von Browne
Marian Louisa Elliott

William Townley Von Browne
Marian Louisa Elliott
💍 1920/9719

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Cashier

24
21

Blenheim
Blenheim

Life
Life

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

20/11583

8 November 1920

Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	97
Date of Notice	8 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Townley Von Browne	Marian Louisa Elliott
	💍 1920/9719
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Cashier
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	20/11583
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

9 November 1920

Robert McIsaac
Avis Elenora Hill

Robert McIsaac
Avis Elenora Hill
💍 1920/9730

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

24
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

20 years
22 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

20/11584

9 November 1920

Ven Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

No	98
Date of Notice	9 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McIsaac	Avis Elenora Hill
	💍 1920/9730
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	20 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	20/11584
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Ven Arch. G. W. York, 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).