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 2980

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 31 December 1920 Registrar D. A. Young

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

20 November 1920

William Hugh Nicholl
Margaret Rose Bennett

William Hugh McColl
Margaret Rose Bennett
💍 1920/9573

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Tailoress

29
22

Geraldine
Geraldine

24 years
11 years

Church of England, Geraldine

11745

20 November 1920

Rev. Harold Purchas, Church of England

No	27
Date of Notice	20 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hugh Nicholl	Margaret Rose Bennett
BDM Match (93%)	William Hugh McColl	Margaret Rose Bennett
	💍 1920/9573
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Tailoress
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	24 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Geraldine
Folio	11745
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Harold Purchas, Church of England

23 November 1920

Robert Campbell
Hannah Mary Crowley

Robert Campbell
Hannah Mary Cowley
💍 1920/9575

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
22

Kakahu Bush
Kakahu Bush

16 years
3 weeks

At Campbells residence, Kakahu Bush

11746

23 November 1920

Rev. J. D. C. Madill, Presbyterian

No	28
Date of Notice	23 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Campbell	Hannah Mary Crowley
BDM Match (97%)	Robert Campbell	Hannah Mary Cowley
	💍 1920/9575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Kakahu Bush	Kakahu Bush
Length of Residence	16 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	At Campbells residence, Kakahu Bush
Folio	11746
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. C. Madill, Presbyterian

26 November 1920

Edwyn Grenville Temple
Eileen Marion Strachey

Edwyn Grenville Temple
Aileen Marion Strachey
💍 1920/10019

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

47
31

Geraldine
Christchurch

20 years
10 days

Church of England, Merivale, Christchurch

12185

26 November 1920

Rev. N. S. Leach, Church of England

No	29
Date of Notice	26 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwyn Grenville Temple	Eileen Marion Strachey
BDM Match (98%)	Edwyn Grenville Temple	Aileen Marion Strachey
	💍 1920/10019
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	47	31
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	10 days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Merivale, Christchurch
Folio	12185
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. S. Leach, Church of England

4 December 1920

James Thomas Ambler
Mary Isabella Ashby

James Thomas Ambler
Mary Isabella Ashby
💍 1920/9576

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

26
23

Orari Bridge
Arundel

26 years
23 years

M. I. Ashby's residence, Arundel

11747

4 December 1920

Mr Anderson, Orari, Home Missioner

No	30
Date of Notice	4 December 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas Ambler	Mary Isabella Ashby
	💍 1920/9576
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Orari Bridge	Arundel
Length of Residence	26 years	23 years
Marriage Place	M. I. Ashby's residence, Arundel
Folio	11747
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1920
Officiating Minister	Mr Anderson, Orari, Home Missioner

6 December 1920

Francis Charles Hopping
Annie McKay

Francis Charles Hopping
Annie McKay
💍 1920/9577

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

24
22

Gaps Valley
Pleasant Valley, Geraldine

11 years
Life

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

11748

6 December 1920

Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	31
Date of Notice	6 December 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Charles Hopping	Annie McKay
	💍 1920/9577
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Gaps Valley	Pleasant Valley, Geraldine
Length of Residence	11 years	Life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	11748
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Bowers, 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).