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 3742

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 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

144

29 May 1920

William James Rand
Jessie Helen Graham

William James Rance
Jessie Helen Graham
💍 1920/6787

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
House-keeper

23
22

Invercargill
Invercargill

12 years
23 years

Methodist Church, Leet Street, Invercargill

6278

29 May 1920

Rev. H. E. Sharp, Methodist

No	144
Date of Notice	29 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Rand	Jessie Helen Graham
BDM Match (95%)	William James Rance	Jessie Helen Graham
	💍 1920/6787
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	House-keeper
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	12 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Leet Street, Invercargill
Folio	6278
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Sharp, Methodist

145

31 May 1920

Robert Henry Stewart
Patricia Georgina Elizabeth Starring

Robert Henry Stewart
Patrina Georgina Elizabeth Hassing
💍 1920/6798

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

19
22

Invercargill
Invercargill

4 days
4 days

Registrar's Office, Invercargill

6279

31 May 1920

Registrar

No	145
Date of Notice	31 May 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Stewart	Patricia Georgina Elizabeth Starring
BDM Match (92%)	Robert Henry Stewart	Patrina Georgina Elizabeth Hassing
	💍 1920/6798
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	19	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Invercargill
Folio	6279
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1920
Officiating Minister	Registrar

146

1 June 1920

Frank Hutchins
Mary Taylor

Frank Hutchins
Marjory Taylor
💍 1920/6803

Widower
Widow

Retired Railway Employee
Domestic

52
46

Invercargill
Invercargill

20 years
3 days

Residence of Mr. L. Neil, 44 Cronan Street, Invercargill

6280

1 June 1920

Rev. H. Maclean, Presbyterian

No	146
Date of Notice	1 June 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Hutchins	Mary Taylor
BDM Match (89%)	Frank Hutchins	Marjory Taylor
	💍 1920/6803
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Retired Railway Employee	Domestic
Age	52	46
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	20 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. L. Neil, 44 Cronan Street, Invercargill
Folio	6280
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Maclean, Presbyterian

147

1 June 1920

William Lawson Gardiner
Annie Clark

William Lawson Gardiner
Annie Clark
💍 1920/6804

William Harry Barker
Ada Clark
💍 1920/5550

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Saleswoman

32
25

Invercargill
Invercargill

14 months
3 years

Residence of Mr. D. R. Thompson, 19 Nelson Street, Invercargill

6281

1 June 1920

Rev. A. Macdonald, Presbyterian

No	147
Date of Notice	1 June 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lawson Gardiner	Annie Clark
	💍 1920/6804
BDM Match (62%)	William Harry Barker	Ada Clark
	💍 1920/5550
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Saleswoman
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	14 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. D. R. Thompson, 19 Nelson Street, Invercargill
Folio	6281
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macdonald, Presbyterian

148

1 June 1920

John Harden McNickle
Alice Fryer

John Hardie McNickel
Alice Fryer
💍 1920/6805

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

43
36

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Presbyterian Church, Makarewa, Invercargill

6282

1 June 1920

Rev. C. J. Robertson, Presbyterian

No	148
Date of Notice	1 June 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Harden McNickle	Alice Fryer
BDM Match (90%)	John Hardie McNickel	Alice Fryer
	💍 1920/6805
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	43	36
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Makarewa, Invercargill
Folio	6282
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. J. Robertson, 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).