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 3251

District of Cromwell Quarter ending 31 December 1920 Registrar L. W. Louisson

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

11 October 1920

Eric Hugh Levido
Amelia Rose Tidey

Eric Hugh Levido
Amelia Rose Tidey
💍 1920/9766

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Saleswoman

23
20

Cromwell St-clair
Cromwell

3 days 6 years
20 years

Church of England at Cromwell

11882

Arthur George Tidey Father

11 October 1920

Rev. Sampson L. T. Stephens

No	8
Date of Notice	11 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Hugh Levido	Amelia Rose Tidey
	💍 1920/9766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Saleswoman
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Cromwell St-clair	Cromwell
Length of Residence	3 days 6 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England at Cromwell
Folio	11882
Consent	Arthur George Tidey Father
Date of Certificate	11 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Sampson L. T. Stephens

16 October 1920

George Ewart
Minnie Ann McPherson

George Ewart
Minnie Ann McPherson
💍 1920/9767

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

42
33

Lowburn Ferry
Lowburn Ferry

1 year
4 years

Residence of Mr Duncan McPherson at Lowburn

11883

16 October 1920

Rev. W. P. Rankin

No	9
Date of Notice	16 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ewart	Minnie Ann McPherson
	💍 1920/9767
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	42	33
Dwelling Place	Lowburn Ferry	Lowburn Ferry
Length of Residence	1 year	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Duncan McPherson at Lowburn
Folio	11883
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. P. Rankin

18 October 1920

Walter Haig
Clarice Olive Tidey

Walter Haig
Clarise Olive Tidey
💍 1920/9768

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Saleswoman

31
26

Cromwell (usual Lauder)
Cromwell

4 days 26 years
24 years

Anglican Church at Cromwell

11884

18 October 1920

Rev. Sampson L. T. Stephens

No	10
Date of Notice	18 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Haig	Clarice Olive Tidey
BDM Match (97%)	Walter Haig	Clarise Olive Tidey
	💍 1920/9768
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Saleswoman
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Cromwell (usual Lauder)	Cromwell
Length of Residence	4 days 26 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church at Cromwell
Folio	11884
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Sampson L. T. Stephens

10 November 1920

Henry Tillman Willson
Jessie Wood Swann

Henry Tillman Willson
Jessie Wood Swann
💍 1920/9745

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist
Domestic Servant

37
29

Lowburn Ferry
Lowburn Ferry

37 years
29 years

Residence of John Swann at Lowburn Ferry

11885

10 November 1920

Rev. J. H. Bayliss

No	11
Date of Notice	10 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Tillman Willson	Jessie Wood Swann
	💍 1920/9745
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist	Domestic Servant
Age	37	29
Dwelling Place	Lowburn Ferry	Lowburn Ferry
Length of Residence	37 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Swann at Lowburn Ferry
Folio	11885
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Bayliss

22 November 1920

Francis Albert Scott
Helen Millie Ritchie

Francis Albert Scott
Helen Millie Ritchie
💍 1920/9746

Bachelor
Spinster

Linesman Telegraph Department
Domestic

33
21

Dunedin Nevis Cromwell
Nevis, Cromwell

8 months 4 days
12 months

office of Registrar of marriages Cromwell

11886

22 November 1920

L. W. Louisson Registrar

No	12
Date of Notice	22 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Albert Scott	Helen Millie Ritchie
	💍 1920/9746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Linesman Telegraph Department	Domestic
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin Nevis Cromwell	Nevis, Cromwell
Length of Residence	8 months 4 days	12 months
Marriage Place	office of Registrar of marriages Cromwell
Folio	11886
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1920
Officiating Minister	L. W. Louisson Registrar

27 November 1920

John Coutts Gillespie
Fanny Kingan

John Coutts Gillespie
Fanny Kingan
💍 1920/9747

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Owner
Domestic

28
21

Hawea Flat Cromwell
Hawea Flat Cromwell

28 years 4 days
28 years 4 days

at the Residence of Thomas McKenzie at Cromwell

11887

27 November 1920

Rev. W. P. Rankin

No	13
Date of Notice	27 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Coutts Gillespie	Fanny Kingan
	💍 1920/9747
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Owner	Domestic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Hawea Flat Cromwell	Hawea Flat Cromwell
Length of Residence	28 years 4 days	28 years 4 days
Marriage Place	at the Residence of Thomas McKenzie at Cromwell
Folio	11887
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. P. Rankin

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).