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 3793

District of Mataura Quarter ending 30 September 1920 Registrar J. D. La Mare

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

12 July 1920

Alexander John Gillies
Annie Ashley

Alexander John Gillies
Annie Ashby
💍 1920/9186

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic

35
27

Mataura
Mataura

6 years
14 years

Residence of Mr Edward Ashley, Mataura

9166

12 July 1920

Rev. J. McMaster, Presbyterian

No	23
Date of Notice	12 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander John Gillies	Annie Ashley
BDM Match (92%)	Alexander John Gillies	Annie Ashby
	💍 1920/9186
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic
Age	35	27
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	6 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Edward Ashley, Mataura
Folio	9166
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McMaster, Presbyterian

26 July 1920

Andrew Dodds
Elizabeth Jane Kingdon

Andrew Dodds
Elizabeth Jane Kingdon
💍 1920/9187

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

40
24

Charlton
Charlton

3 days
10 years

Residence of Bride's Parents, Charlton

9167

26 July 1920

Rev. J. McMaster, Presbyterian

No	24
Date of Notice	26 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Dodds	Elizabeth Jane Kingdon
	💍 1920/9187
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	40	24
Dwelling Place	Charlton	Charlton
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Parents, Charlton
Folio	9167
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McMaster, Presbyterian

29 July 1920

James Morrison Maughan
Katherine McClelland

James Morrison McCaughan
Katherine McClelland
💍 1920/9189

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Fireman
Shop Manageress

24
22

Mataura
Mataura

7 days
7 days

Presbyterian Church, Mataura

9168

29 July 1920

Rev. J. McMaster, Presbyterian

No	25
Date of Notice	29 July 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Morrison Maughan	Katherine McClelland
BDM Match (96%)	James Morrison McCaughan	Katherine McClelland
	💍 1920/9189
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Fireman	Shop Manageress
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	7 days	7 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Mataura
Folio	9168
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McMaster, Presbyterian

2 August 1920

Thomas Telfer
Sarah McKelvie

Thomas Telfer
Sarah McKelvie
💍 1920/9190

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

28
27

Brydone
Mataura

12 years
27 years

Oddfellows Hall, Mataura

9169

2 August 1920

Rev. J. McMaster, Presbyterian

No	26
Date of Notice	2 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Telfer	Sarah McKelvie
	💍 1920/9190
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Brydone	Mataura
Length of Residence	12 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Oddfellows Hall, Mataura
Folio	9169
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McMaster, Presbyterian

17 August 1920

Bert Edward Ashley
Jessie Eileen Allison

Bert Edward Ashby
Jessie Eileen Allison
💍 1920/9191

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

24
21

Mataura
Mataura

14 years
4 days

Residence of William Allison, Mataura

9170

17 August 1920

Rev. J. McMaster, Presbyterian

No	27
Date of Notice	17 August 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bert Edward Ashley	Jessie Eileen Allison
BDM Match (94%)	Bert Edward Ashby	Jessie Eileen Allison
	💍 1920/9191
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	14 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of William Allison, Mataura
Folio	9170
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McMaster, 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).