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 3312

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 1920 Registrar A. L. [illegible]

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

290

20 April 1920

Charles Norman Anderson
Annie Esther Ash

Charles Norman Anderson
Annie Esther Ash
💍 1920/797

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman

36
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 days
4 days

St Andrews Church, Dunedin

4532

20 April 1920

R. W. Kinmont, Presbyterian

No	290
Date of Notice	20 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Norman Anderson	Annie Esther Ash
	💍 1920/797
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman
Age	36	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St Andrews Church, Dunedin
Folio	4532
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1920
Officiating Minister	R. W. Kinmont, Presbyterian

291

21 April 1920

Arthur William Edward Smith
Eunice Helen Hammer

Arthur William Edward Smith
Eunice Helen Hammer
💍 1920/798

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer

25
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 days
3 weeks

Registrar's Office, Dunedin

4533

21 April 1920

Deputy Registrar

No	291
Date of Notice	21 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Edward Smith	Eunice Helen Hammer
	💍 1920/798
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Dunedin
Folio	4533
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1920
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

292

22 April 1920

Albert Victor Harley
Olive Marguerite Ann Mooney

Albert Hector Harley
Olive Marguerite Ann Mooney
💍 1920/799

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker

24
24

St Kilda
Dunedin

3 years
4 years

Methodist Central Mission Parsonage, 6 Royal Terrace, Dunedin

4534

22 April 1920

C. Eaton, Methodist

No	292
Date of Notice	22 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Victor Harley	Olive Marguerite Ann Mooney
BDM Match (95%)	Albert Hector Harley	Olive Marguerite Ann Mooney
	💍 1920/799
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	St Kilda	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Central Mission Parsonage, 6 Royal Terrace, Dunedin
Folio	4534
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1920
Officiating Minister	C. Eaton, Methodist

293

22 April 1920

David Scurr
Mary Alison Hunter

David Scurr
Mary Alison Hunter
💍 1920/776

Widower 12 February 1916
Spinster

Coachbuilder

45
33

Dunedin
Dunedin

45 years
32 years

St Mary's Church, Mornington

4535

22 April 1920

J. C. Small, Anglican

No	293
Date of Notice	22 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Scurr	Mary Alison Hunter
	💍 1920/776
Condition	Widower 12 February 1916	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder
Age	45	33
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	45 years	32 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Mornington
Folio	4535
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1920
Officiating Minister	J. C. Small, Anglican

294

22 April 1920

Robert McElwee
Lavinia Margaret Ann Bell

Robert McElwee
Levina Margaret Ann Bell
💍 1920/777

Widower 23 January 1920
Spinster

Farmer

48
46

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 days
2 months

Residence Mr. T. Hosie, 7 Dalkeith Street, North East Valley, Dunedin

4536

22 April 1920

R. E. Evans, Presbyterian

No	294
Date of Notice	22 April 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McElwee	Lavinia Margaret Ann Bell
BDM Match (96%)	Robert McElwee	Levina Margaret Ann Bell
	💍 1920/777
Condition	Widower 23 January 1920	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	48	46
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 days	2 months
Marriage Place	Residence Mr. T. Hosie, 7 Dalkeith Street, North East Valley, Dunedin
Folio	4536
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1920
Officiating Minister	R. E. Evans, 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).