Intentions to Marry, 1920 Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840495, 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.

1920h contains pages 3441-3864, covering districts from Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Page 3575

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 December 1920 Registrar S. S. Chisholm

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

29 October 1920

Richard Thomas Wilson
Margaret Walker Robertson

Richard Thomas Wilson
Margaret Walker Robertson
💍 1920/9776

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

37 years
27 years

Papakaio
Glenavy

37 years
4 days

Residence of John Norton, Glenavy

11916

29 October 1920

Rev. Walter McLean, Presbyterian

No	96
Date of Notice	29 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Thomas Wilson	Margaret Walker Robertson
	💍 1920/9776
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	37 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Papakaio	Glenavy
Length of Residence	37 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of John Norton, Glenavy
Folio	11916
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Walter McLean, Presbyterian

29 October 1920

James Robinson
Eliza Houston Harvey

James Robinson
Eliza Houton Harvey
💍 1920/9777

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic Duties

25
19

Oamaru
Oamaru

25 years
19 years

Residence of Mrs Mary Harvey, Tyne Street, Oamaru

11917

Mary Harvey (mother)

29 October 1920

Rev. Samuel F. Hunter, Presbyterian

No	97
Date of Notice	29 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robinson	Eliza Houston Harvey
BDM Match (98%)	James Robinson	Eliza Houton Harvey
	💍 1920/9777
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic Duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	25 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Mary Harvey, Tyne Street, Oamaru
Folio	11917
Consent	Mary Harvey (mother)
Date of Certificate	29 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel F. Hunter, Presbyterian

3 November 1920

Charles Edward Fincham
Florence Ann Searle

Charles Edward Fincham
Florence Ann Searle
💍 1920/9778

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Waitress

26 years
25 years

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
25 years

Columba Presbyterian Church

11918

3 November 1920

Rev. W. McLean, Presbyterian

No	98
Date of Notice	3 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Fincham	Florence Ann Searle
	💍 1920/9778
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Waitress
Age	26 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Columba Presbyterian Church
Folio	11918
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. McLean, Presbyterian

9 November 1920

Gerald William McDouall
Olive Dora McKinnon

Gerald William McDouall
Olive Dora McKinnon
💍 1920/9779

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk
Domestic Duties

32 years
28 years

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
1 month

St Lukes Anglican Church, Oamaru

11919

9 November 1920

Archdeacon Russell, Church of England

No	99
Date of Notice	9 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gerald William McDouall	Olive Dora McKinnon
	💍 1920/9779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	32 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	St Lukes Anglican Church, Oamaru
Folio	11919
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Russell, Church of England

100

10 November 1920

Frederick Paul Clague
Annie Margaret Newton

Frederick Paul Clague
Annie Margaret Hewton
💍 1920/10060

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

32
33

Queens Flat
Ngapara

7 years
25 years

Residence of David Newton, Hazelmere Farm, Ngapara

12231

10 November 1920

Rev. Archibald G. Irvine, Presbyterian

No	100
Date of Notice	10 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Paul Clague	Annie Margaret Newton
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Paul Clague	Annie Margaret Hewton
	💍 1920/10060
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Queens Flat	Ngapara
Length of Residence	7 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of David Newton, Hazelmere Farm, Ngapara
Folio	12231
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archibald G. Irvine, 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).