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 3737

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 1920 Registrar J. G. Petrie

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

120

5 May 1920

Arthur Wilson
Jane Elizabeth Pay

Arthur Wilson
Jane Elizabeth Pay
💍 1920/6734

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

40
33

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Methodist Church Kennington Invercargill

6258

5 May 1920

Rev. J. H. Sharp, Methodist

No	120
Date of Notice	5 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Wilson	Jane Elizabeth Pay
	💍 1920/6734
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	40	33
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Kennington Invercargill
Folio	6258
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Sharp, Methodist

121

7 May 1920

Alexander Peat
Martha Tryphena Manora Laverty

Alexander Peat
Martha Tryphenia Mavora Laverty
💍 1920/6735

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Importer
Domestic

29
22

Invercargill
Invercargill

13 months
4 years

Presbyterian Church Bush Invercargill

6259

7 May 1920

Rev. H. G. Gilbert, Presbyterian

No	121
Date of Notice	7 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Peat	Martha Tryphena Manora Laverty
BDM Match (97%)	Alexander Peat	Martha Tryphenia Mavora Laverty
	💍 1920/6735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Importer	Domestic
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	13 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Bush Invercargill
Folio	6259
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Gilbert, Presbyterian

122

7 May 1920

Sydney Caleb Small
Helen Hughes Forrest

Sydney Caleb Small
Helen Angelina Forrest
💍 1920/6736

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
24

Invercargill
Invercargill

2 years
One year

Brides parents residence Leven St Invercargill

6260

7 May 1920

Rev. J. Collie, Presbyterian

No	122
Date of Notice	7 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Caleb Small	Helen Hughes Forrest
BDM Match (84%)	Sydney Caleb Small	Helen Angelina Forrest
	💍 1920/6736
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	One year
Marriage Place	Brides parents residence Leven St Invercargill
Folio	6260
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Collie, Presbyterian

123

8 May 1920

Kenneth Duncan McKenzie
Elizabeth Ferris

Kenneth Duncan McKenzie
Elizabeth Ferrier
💍 1920/6737

Bachelor
Widow 27/1/19

Labourer
Domestic

32
28

Invercargill
Invercargill

9 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church Tyne St Invercargill

6261

8 May 1920

Very Rev. W. Burke, Roman Catholic

No	123
Date of Notice	8 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth Duncan McKenzie	Elizabeth Ferris
BDM Match (94%)	Kenneth Duncan McKenzie	Elizabeth Ferrier
	💍 1920/6737
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 27/1/19
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	9 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Tyne St Invercargill
Folio	6261
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke, Roman Catholic

124

10 May 1920

Thomas James Irving Thomson
Ellen Hyppotha Thomas

Thomas James Irving Thomson
Ellen Hypaha Thomas
💍 1920/6714

Bachelor
Spinster

Night Watchman
Domestic

27
34

Invercargill
Invercargill

2 years
7 months

Residence of Rev. R. J. Cossum Elles Road Invercargill

6262

10 May 1920

Rev. R. J. Cossum, Methodist

No	124
Date of Notice	10 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas James Irving Thomson	Ellen Hyppotha Thomas
BDM Match (93%)	Thomas James Irving Thomson	Ellen Hypaha Thomas
	💍 1920/6714
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Night Watchman	Domestic
Age	27	34
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	7 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. J. Cossum Elles Road Invercargill
Folio	6262
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Cossum, Methodist

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).