Intentions to Marry, 1919 Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840487, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1919 is bound in seven volumes (a to g) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1919g contains pages 2943-3338, covering districts from Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Page 3273

District of Mataura Quarter ending 31 December 1919 Registrar R. J. O'Hara

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

6 November 1919

Alexander Byars Johnston
Elvina Joan Mullay

Alexander Byars Johnston
Elvina Joan Mullay
💍 1919/9612

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Teacher

29
32

Brydone
Bluff

3 months
20 years

Residence of J. S. Mullay, Craigie Knowe, Bluff

9357

6 November 1919

Rev. Francis, Presbyterian, Bluff

No	16
Date of Notice	6 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Byars Johnston	Elvina Joan Mullay
	💍 1919/9612
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Teacher
Age	29	32
Dwelling Place	Brydone	Bluff
Length of Residence	3 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. S. Mullay, Craigie Knowe, Bluff
Folio	9357
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Francis, Presbyterian, Bluff

15 November 1919

John Henderson Miller
Margaret Ann Peart

John Henderson Miller
Margaret Ann Peart
💍 1919/9671

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

28
21

Waimumu
Waimumu

1/2 years
1/4 years

Public Hall, Waimumu

9464

15 November 1919

Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian, Gore

No	17
Date of Notice	15 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henderson Miller	Margaret Ann Peart
	💍 1919/9671
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Waimumu	Waimumu
Length of Residence	1/2 years	1/4 years
Marriage Place	Public Hall, Waimumu
Folio	9464
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian, Gore

15 November 1919

James Semiton Miller
Janet May Peart

James Senirton Miller
Janet May Peart
💍 1919/9672

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
20

Waimumu
Waimumu

1/2 years
1/4 years

Public Hall, Waimumu

9465

James Muirhead Peart, Father

15 November 1919

Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian, Gore

No	18
Date of Notice	15 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Semiton Miller	Janet May Peart
BDM Match (95%)	James Senirton Miller	Janet May Peart
	💍 1919/9672
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Waimumu	Waimumu
Length of Residence	1/2 years	1/4 years
Marriage Place	Public Hall, Waimumu
Folio	9465
Consent	James Muirhead Peart, Father
Date of Certificate	15 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian, Gore

16 December 1919

Francis Smith
Frances Harriett Smith

Francis Smith
Frances Harriet Smith
💍 1919/9607

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

39
35

Charlton
Otama

35 years
5 days

Private Residence of R. White, Otama

9375

16 December 1919

Rev. Mitchell, Presbyterian, Knapdale

No	19
Date of Notice	16 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Smith	Frances Harriett Smith
BDM Match (98%)	Francis Smith	Frances Harriet Smith
	💍 1919/9607
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	39	35
Dwelling Place	Charlton	Otama
Length of Residence	35 years	5 days
Marriage Place	Private Residence of R. White, Otama
Folio	9375
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mitchell, Presbyterian, Knapdale

16 December 1919

William Johnson
Margaret Ferguson Lowden

William Johnson
Margaret Ferguson Lowden
💍 1919/9673

Widower
Divorced

Labourer
Domestic duties

49
43

Mataura
Mataura

7 years
17 years

40 Wyndham Road, Mataura

9466

16 December 1919

Rev. J. McMaster, Presbyterian

No	20
Date of Notice	16 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Johnson	Margaret Ferguson Lowden
	💍 1919/9673
Condition	Widower	Divorced
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	49	43
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	7 years	17 years
Marriage Place	40 Wyndham Road, Mataura
Folio	9466
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McMaster, Presbyterian

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).