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 3743

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 1920 Registrar F. G. Pyke

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

149

2 June 1920

James Cedric Ludlow
Gladys Hagen Pearson

James Cedric Ludlow
Gladys Hughan Pearson
💍 1920/6806

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

27
23

Invercargill
Invercargill

One month
4 months

Residence of Mr. F. G. Pyke, 47 Macmaster Street, Invercargill

6283

2 June 1920

Rev. Th. Robison, Presbyterian

No	149
Date of Notice	2 June 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Cedric Ludlow	Gladys Hagen Pearson
BDM Match (93%)	James Cedric Ludlow	Gladys Hughan Pearson
	💍 1920/6806
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	One month	4 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. F. G. Pyke, 47 Macmaster Street, Invercargill
Folio	6283
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Th. Robison, Presbyterian

150

2 June 1920

Alexander Morton Niven
Mary Ellen McLean

Alexander Morton Niven
Mary Ellen McLean
💍 1920/6807

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

24
22

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 weeks
1 month

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

6284

2 June 1920

Rev. A. Macdonald, Presbyterian

No	150
Date of Notice	2 June 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Morton Niven	Mary Ellen McLean
	💍 1920/6807
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 weeks	1 month
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	6284
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macdonald, Presbyterian

151

2 June 1920

Charles Arthur Henriksen
Ethel Elizabeth Nicol

Charles Arthur Henriksen
Ethel Elizabeth Neas
💍 1920/6808

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School teacher

25
23

Waikivi
Waikivi

5 days
4 years

Residence of Mr. Henriksen, Baird Street, Waikivi, Invercargill

6285

2 June 1920

Rev. J. Robertson, Presbyterian

No	151
Date of Notice	2 June 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Arthur Henriksen	Ethel Elizabeth Nicol
BDM Match (91%)	Charles Arthur Henriksen	Ethel Elizabeth Neas
	💍 1920/6808
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School teacher
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Waikivi	Waikivi
Length of Residence	5 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Henriksen, Baird Street, Waikivi, Invercargill
Folio	6285
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Robertson, Presbyterian

152

5 June 1920

Robert Lepper
Eliza Helen Killoch Allison

Robert Lepper
Eliza May Killock Allison
💍 1920/6809

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

23
21

Otatara
Invercargill

8 days
2 years

Presbyterian Church, South Invercargill

6286

5 June 1920

Rev. E. Gardiner, Presbyterian

No	152
Date of Notice	5 June 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Lepper	Eliza Helen Killoch Allison
BDM Match (89%)	Robert Lepper	Eliza May Killock Allison
	💍 1920/6809
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Otatara	Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, South Invercargill
Folio	6286
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Gardiner, Presbyterian

153

5 June 1920

Alexander Adam Robertson
Ellen Agnew Collins

Alexander Adam Robertson
Ellen Agnew Collinson
💍 1920/6788

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
23

Enoch bank
Enoch bank

15 months
1 year

Drawingroom of Aunt's residence 69 Ann Street, Invercargill

6287

5 June 1920

Rev. W. Lambert, Baptist

No	153
Date of Notice	5 June 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Adam Robertson	Ellen Agnew Collins
BDM Match (95%)	Alexander Adam Robertson	Ellen Agnew Collinson
	💍 1920/6788
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Enoch bank	Enoch bank
Length of Residence	15 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Drawingroom of Aunt's residence 69 Ann Street, Invercargill
Folio	6287
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lambert, Baptist

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).