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 3764

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 December 1920 Registrar L. 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

253

6 October 1920

James Walter Puckey
Mary Robertson

John Crow Potter
Mary Robertson
💍 1920/2018

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Draper

40
39

Invercargill
Invercargill

1 year
7 years

Presbyterian Church, Beattie Street, Invercargill

11990

6 October 1920

Rev. H. G. Gilbert, Presbyterian

No	253
Date of Notice	6 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Walter Puckey	Mary Robertson
BDM Match (63%)	John Crow Potter	Mary Robertson
	💍 1920/2018
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Draper
Age	40	39
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 year	7 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Beattie Street, Invercargill
Folio	11990
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Gilbert, Presbyterian

254

6 October 1920

Albert McDowall
Henrietta Susan Neima

Albert McDowall
Henrietta Susan Nunn
💍 1920/9826

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
21

Taramoa
Taramoa

3 days
3 years

Presbyterian Church, Forth Street, Invercargill

11991

6 October 1920

Rev. Th. Robertson, Presbyterian

No	254
Date of Notice	6 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert McDowall	Henrietta Susan Neima
BDM Match (91%)	Albert McDowall	Henrietta Susan Nunn
	💍 1920/9826
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Taramoa	Taramoa
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Forth Street, Invercargill
Folio	11991
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Th. Robertson, Presbyterian

255

6 October 1920

William Richard Brooks
Edith London

William Richard Brooks
Edith Condon
💍 1920/9827

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

26
19

Invercargill
Invercargill

20 years
2 years

Registrar's Office, Invercargill

11992

Samuel Brooks, Father; Patrick London, Father

6 October 1920

Registrar

No	255
Date of Notice	6 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Richard Brooks	Edith London
BDM Match (96%)	William Richard Brooks	Edith Condon
	💍 1920/9827
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Invercargill
Folio	11992
Consent	Samuel Brooks, Father; Patrick London, Father
Date of Certificate	6 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

256

7 October 1920

Phillip Alfred Poole
Gertrude Heatherall

Philip Alfred Poole
Ivy Gertrude Weatherall
💍 1920/9787

Bachelor
Spinster

Woodware Manufacturer
Saleswoman

30
29

Invercargill
Roxburgh

27 years
6 months

St James English Church, Roxburgh

11903

7 October 1920

Rev. J. Morland, Church of England

No	256
Date of Notice	7 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Phillip Alfred Poole	Gertrude Heatherall
BDM Match (87%)	Philip Alfred Poole	Ivy Gertrude Weatherall
	💍 1920/9787
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woodware Manufacturer	Saleswoman
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Roxburgh
Length of Residence	27 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St James English Church, Roxburgh
Folio	11903
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Morland, Church of England

257

8 October 1920

John Reed Crowley
Margaret Ann Fraser

John Reid Cowley
Margaret Ann Fraser
💍 1920/9828

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor man
Domestic

28
30

Invercargill
Invercargill

28 years
30 years

Browns Parsonage residence, 30 Sydney Street, Invercargill

11993

8 October 1920

Rev. E. Gardiner, Presbyterian

No	257
Date of Notice	8 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Reed Crowley	Margaret Ann Fraser
BDM Match (94%)	John Reid Cowley	Margaret Ann Fraser
	💍 1920/9828
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor man	Domestic
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	28 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Browns Parsonage residence, 30 Sydney Street, Invercargill
Folio	11993
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Gardiner, 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).