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 3605

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar H. Hebner

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

3 January 1920

Charles Stevenson
Sarah Lappan

Charles Stevenson
Sarah Lappan
💍 1920/3933

Widower
Spinster

Carrier

52
45

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

40 years
6 months

In the residence of Rev. W. M. Grant, Wickliffe Terrace, Port Chalmers

2966

3 January 1920

Rev. W. M. Grant, Congregational Minister

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Stevenson	Sarah Lappan
	💍 1920/3933
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	52	45
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	40 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In the residence of Rev. W. M. Grant, Wickliffe Terrace, Port Chalmers
Folio	2966
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Grant, Congregational Minister

14 January 1920

Frederick Ronald Beale
Rita Miriam Cartwright

Frederick Ronald Beale
Rita Miriam Cartwright
💍 1920/3934

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Drover
Dressmaker

24
21

Present Port Chalmers, usual Temuka
Present Port Chalmers, usual Temuka

2 weeks
3 weeks

Registrars Office, Port Chalmers

2967

14 January 1920

J. B. Davis, Deputy Registrar

No	2
Date of Notice	14 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Ronald Beale	Rita Miriam Cartwright
	💍 1920/3934
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Drover	Dressmaker
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Present Port Chalmers, usual Temuka	Present Port Chalmers, usual Temuka
Length of Residence	2 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Port Chalmers
Folio	2967
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1920
Officiating Minister	J. B. Davis, Deputy Registrar

10 February 1920

Arthur Charles Hampton
Coila Reynolds Stevenson

Arthur Charles Hampton
Coila Reynolds Stevenson
💍 1920/3935

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
School Teacher

37
26

Present Port Chalmers, usual Milburn
Port Chalmers

1 year
26 years

Residence of C. Stevenson, 5 Leckie Street, Port Chalmers

2968

10 February 1920

Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian Minister

No	3
Date of Notice	10 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Charles Hampton	Coila Reynolds Stevenson
	💍 1920/3935
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	School Teacher
Age	37	26
Dwelling Place	Present Port Chalmers, usual Milburn	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	1 year	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of C. Stevenson, 5 Leckie Street, Port Chalmers
Folio	2968
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian Minister

10 February 1920

James Thomas Adams
Vera Evelyn Watson

James Thomas Adams
Vera Evelyn Watson
💍 1920/3936

Bachelor
Spinster

Tobacconist
Shop Assistant

25
25

Present Port Chalmers, usual Oamaru
Port Chalmers

3 days
25 years

Presbyterian Church, Port Chalmers

2969

10 February 1920

Rev. R. A. M. Sutherland, Presbyterian Minister

No	4
Date of Notice	10 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas Adams	Vera Evelyn Watson
	💍 1920/3936
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tobacconist	Shop Assistant
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Present Port Chalmers, usual Oamaru	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	2969
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. M. Sutherland, Presbyterian Minister

16 February 1920

Robert Clark Gardiner
Catherine Coleman

Robert Clark Gardiner
Catherine Coleman
💍 1920/3937

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

25
25

Present Port Chalmers, usual Ravensbourne
Port Chalmers

6 days
25 years

Congregational Church, Port Chalmers

2970

16 February 1920

Rev. W. M. Grant, Congregational Minister

No	5
Date of Notice	16 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Clark Gardiner	Catherine Coleman
	💍 1920/3937
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Present Port Chalmers, usual Ravensbourne	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	6 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Port Chalmers
Folio	2970
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Grant, Congregational Minister

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).