Intentions to Marry, 1920 Cust to Dunedin

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840494, 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.

1920g contains pages 2957-3440, covering districts from Cust to Dunedin

Page 3109

District of Temuka Quarter ending 31 December 1920 Registrar W. J. Gibbs

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

15 October 1920

Thomas Frisby
Eva Elizabeth Augusta Fuchs

Thomas Frisby
Eva Elizabeth Augusta Fuchs
💍 1920/10111

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi Proprietor
Milliner

31
39

Temuka
Christchurch

21 years
3 years

Residence of Mrs A. E. A. Fuchs, 117 Hastings street, Sydenham, Christchurch

9335

15 October 1920

Rev George Woolnough, Church of Christ

No	46
Date of Notice	15 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Frisby	Eva Elizabeth Augusta Fuchs
	💍 1920/10111
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi Proprietor	Milliner
Age	31	39
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs A. E. A. Fuchs, 117 Hastings street, Sydenham, Christchurch
Folio	9335
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev George Woolnough, Church of Christ

19 October 1920

John Brown Barce
Helen Mary Pearse

John Brown Pearse
Helen Mary Pearse
💍 1920/9641

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

44
30

Temuka
Timaru

44 years
25 years

St Marys Church, Timaru

11813

19 October 1920

Archdeacon J. A. Jacob, Church of England

No	47
Date of Notice	19 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brown Barce	Helen Mary Pearse
BDM Match (91%)	John Brown Pearse	Helen Mary Pearse
	💍 1920/9641
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	44	30
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Timaru
Length of Residence	44 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St Marys Church, Timaru
Folio	11813
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon J. A. Jacob, Church of England

19 October 1920

John Brosnahan
Mary Toomey

John Brosnahan
Mary Toomey
💍 1920/9637

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
House hold Duties

27
24

Temuka
Temuka

27 years
10 years

St Joseph's Church, Temuka

11801

19 October 1920

Rev. R. Hoare, Roman Catholic

No	48
Date of Notice	19 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brosnahan	Mary Toomey
	💍 1920/9637
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	House hold Duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Temuka
Length of Residence	27 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St Joseph's Church, Temuka
Folio	11801
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Hoare, Roman Catholic

1 November 1920

George Henry McBratney
Kathleen Ethel McGrath

George Henry McBratney
Kathleen Ethel McGrath
💍 1920/9648

Widower 10-1-17
Spinster

Firewood Merchant
Winder Electrical Works

31
26

Winchester
Winchester

27 years
4 days

Presbyterian Church, Temuka

11802

1 November 1920

Rev Charles McDonald, Presbyterian

No	49
Date of Notice	1 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry McBratney	Kathleen Ethel McGrath
	💍 1920/9648
Condition	Widower 10-1-17	Spinster
Profession	Firewood Merchant	Winder Electrical Works
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Winchester	Winchester
Length of Residence	27 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Temuka
Folio	11802
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev Charles McDonald, Presbyterian

9 November 1920

Barry Joseph Brosnahan
Mary Josephine Foley

Barry Joseph Brosnahan
Mary Josephine Foley
💍 1920/9655

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
House hold Duties

30
22

Temuka
Temuka

3 Days
3 Days

Roman Catholic Church, Temuka

11803

9 November 1920

Rev Father C. E. Kimbell, Roman Catholic

No	50
Date of Notice	9 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Barry Joseph Brosnahan	Mary Josephine Foley
	💍 1920/9655
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	House hold Duties
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Temuka
Length of Residence	3 Days	3 Days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Temuka
Folio	11803
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev Father C. E. Kimbell, 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).