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 2386

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 September 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

14 August 1920

William John Murray
Annie Patricia Martyn

William John Murray
Annie Patricia Martyn
💍 1920/8840

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep-farmer
School-teacher

21
23

Onamalutu
Onamalutu

21 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church, Blenheim

20/8709

14 August 1920

Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

No	74
Date of Notice	14 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Murray	Annie Patricia Martyn
	💍 1920/8840
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep-farmer	School-teacher
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Onamalutu	Onamalutu
Length of Residence	21 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Blenheim
Folio	20/8709
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb, Presbyterian

20 August 1920

John Henry Larsen
Olive May Verry

John Henry Larsen
Olive May Verry
💍 1920/8841

Divorced 28/11/1917
Spinster

Assistant Fitter
Domestic Duties

31
24

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
24 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

20/8710

20 August 1920

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

No	75
Date of Notice	20 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Larsen	Olive May Verry
	💍 1920/8841
Condition	Divorced 28/11/1917	Spinster
Profession	Assistant Fitter	Domestic Duties
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	20/8710
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

25 August 1920

Stanley Marsh Reader
Florence Barcroft Mansford

Stanley Marsh Reader
Florence Barcroft Mansford
💍 1920/8842

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Postal Assistant

29
33

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
20 months

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

20/8711

25 August 1920

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

No	76
Date of Notice	25 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Marsh Reader	Florence Barcroft Mansford
	💍 1920/8842
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Postal Assistant
Age	29	33
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	20 months
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	20/8711
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. G. W. York, Church of England

31 August 1920

Charles Ellis Matthews
Eileen Margaret O'Meagher

Charles Ellis Matthews
Eileen Margaret O'Meagher
💍 1920/8824

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

28
21

Blenheim
Blenheim

28 years
21 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

20/8712

31 August 1920

Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	77
Date of Notice	31 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Ellis Matthews	Eileen Margaret O'Meagher
	💍 1920/8824
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	28 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	20/8712
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

2 September 1920

John Kelleher
Irene Hellen Winifred Barnes

John Kelleher
Irene Hellen Winifred Barnes
💍 1920/8825

Bachelor
Spinster

Post & Telegraph Clerk
Domestic Duties

23
23

Blenheim
Seddon

23 years
23 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

20/8713

2 September 1920

Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	78
Date of Notice	2 September 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kelleher	Irene Hellen Winifred Barnes
	💍 1920/8825
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Post & Telegraph Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Seddon
Length of Residence	23 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	20/8713
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

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).