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 3765

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 December 1920 Registrar F. G. Pellett

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

258

9 October 1920

Robert Maclachlan
Sarah Lindsay Veitch

Robert Maclachlan
Sarah Lindsay Veitch
💍 1920/9829

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Shop Assistant

34
28

Invercargill
Invercargill

8 years
7 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay St, Invercargill

11994

9 October 1920

Rev. J. R. Robinson, Presbyterian

No	258
Date of Notice	9 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Maclachlan	Sarah Lindsay Veitch
	💍 1920/9829
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Shop Assistant
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay St, Invercargill
Folio	11994
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Robinson, Presbyterian

259

11 October 1920

Thomas George Cartwright
Joan Grieve

Thomas George Cartwright
Jean Grieve
💍 1920/9831

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
18

Invercargill
Invercargill

10 years
3 years

Residence of Geo Cartwright, 227 Ettrick St, Invercargill

11995

Isabella Grieve, mother

11 October 1920

Rev. H. A. Sharp, Methodist

No	259
Date of Notice	11 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas George Cartwright	Joan Grieve
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas George Cartwright	Jean Grieve
	💍 1920/9831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Geo Cartwright, 227 Ettrick St, Invercargill
Folio	11995
Consent	Isabella Grieve, mother
Date of Certificate	11 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Sharp, Methodist

260

12 October 1920

Bruce Stewart
Mary Lodge

Bruce Stewart
May Lodge
💍 1920/9836

Bachelor
Spinster

Stationer
Saleswoman

29
34

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
15 years

English Church, Tay St, Invercargill

11996

12 October 1920

Rev. R. G. Coats, Church of England

No	260
Date of Notice	12 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bruce Stewart	Mary Lodge
BDM Match (95%)	Bruce Stewart	May Lodge
	💍 1920/9836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stationer	Saleswoman
Age	29	34
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay St, Invercargill
Folio	11996
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. G. Coats, Church of England

261

12 October 1920

Norman William Shields
Bertha Isabella King

Norman William Shields
Bertha Isabella King
💍 1920/9832

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheesemaker
Domestic

21
20

Ryal Bush
Ryal Bush

4 years
12 years

Presbyterian Church, Ryal Bush

11997

Frederick King, Father

13 October 1920

Rev. A. McNeur, Presbyterian

No	261
Date of Notice	12 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman William Shields	Bertha Isabella King
	💍 1920/9832
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheesemaker	Domestic
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Ryal Bush	Ryal Bush
Length of Residence	4 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Ryal Bush
Folio	11997
Consent	Frederick King, Father
Date of Certificate	13 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. McNeur, Presbyterian

262

13 October 1920

Charles Frederick Nixon
Ethel Mary Cook

Charles Frederick Nixon
Ethel May Cook
💍 1920/9833

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot Importer
Domestic

33
29

Winton
Invercargill

27 years
3 days

Presbyterian Church, South Invercargill

11998

13 October 1920

Rev. E. Gardiner, Presbyterian

No	262
Date of Notice	13 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Frederick Nixon	Ethel Mary Cook
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Frederick Nixon	Ethel May Cook
	💍 1920/9833
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot Importer	Domestic
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Winton	Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, South Invercargill
Folio	11998
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Gardiner, Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).