Intentions to Marry, 1905 Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840428, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1905 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1905a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1905b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1905c).

Page 532

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 September 1905 Registrar Henry Arthur Jackman

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

4 July 1905

Wacker Hessell
Ann Emily Chino

Walker Hessell
Ann Emily Climo
💍 1905/2139

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
21

Blenheim
Blenheim

3 days
3 days

Registrar of Marriages Office Blenheim

05/4464

4 July 1905

W. H. Jackman

No	33
Date of Notice	4 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wacker Hessell	Ann Emily Chino
BDM Match (90%)	Walker Hessell	Ann Emily Climo
	💍 1905/2139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar of Marriages Office Blenheim
Folio	05/4464
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1905
Officiating Minister	W. H. Jackman

8 July 1905

David Henry Kirk
Mary Ellen O'Connor

David Henry Kirk
Mary Ellen O'Connor
💍 1905/2141

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

35
33

Blenheim
Blenheim

1 week
1 week

Mr. J. M. Hughes residence Sutherland Terrace Blenheim

05/4466

8 July 1905

Rev. L. C. Servapean

No	34
Date of Notice	8 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Henry Kirk	Mary Ellen O'Connor
	💍 1905/2141
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	35	33
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	Mr. J. M. Hughes residence Sutherland Terrace Blenheim
Folio	05/4466
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. C. Servapean

17 July 1905

William James McIsaac
Isabella Rose Blackburn

William James McIsaac
Isabella Rose Blackburn
💍 1905/2144

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29
23

Blenheim
Blenheim

29 years
23 years

Mr. Blackburn's residence Manse Road Blenheim

05/4469

18 July 1905

Arch. J. S. Grace

No	35
Date of Notice	17 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James McIsaac	Isabella Rose Blackburn
	💍 1905/2144
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	29 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Blackburn's residence Manse Road Blenheim
Folio	05/4469
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Arch. J. S. Grace

3 August 1905

Thomas Keating
Margaret Maher

Thomas Keating
Margaret Maher
💍 1905/2142

William Herbert Robinson
Margaret Maher
💍 1905/3782

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

30
28

Blenheim
Blenheim

20 years
25 years

Roman Catholic Church Blenheim

05/4467

3 August 1905

Rev. L. C. Servapean

No	36
Date of Notice	3 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Keating	Margaret Maher
	💍 1905/2142
BDM Match (63%)	William Herbert Robinson	Margaret Maher
	💍 1905/3782
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	20 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Blenheim
Folio	05/4467
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. C. Servapean

8 August 1905

Walter John Hendy
Nora Gertrude Spencer

Walter John Hendry
Nora Gertrude Spencer
💍 1905/2140

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

31
35

Grovetown
Blenheim

9 months
8 months

Wesleyan Parsonage Blenheim

05/4465

8 August 1905

Rev. G. W. J. Spence

No	37
Date of Notice	8 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John Hendy	Nora Gertrude Spencer
BDM Match (97%)	Walter John Hendry	Nora Gertrude Spencer
	💍 1905/2140
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	31	35
Dwelling Place	Grovetown	Blenheim
Length of Residence	9 months	8 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Parsonage Blenheim
Folio	05/4465
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. J. Spence

9 August 1905

Joseph Henry Slade
Elenora Sophia Lankow

Joseph Henry Stade
Elenora Sophia Lankow
💍 1905/4681

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver

22
22

Blenheim
Tuamarina

19 months
22 years

W. H. Lankow's residence Tuamarina

05/5741

9 August 1905

Rev. J. U. Spence

No	38
Date of Notice	9 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Slade	Elenora Sophia Lankow
BDM Match (97%)	Joseph Henry Stade	Elenora Sophia Lankow
	💍 1905/4681
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Tuamarina
Length of Residence	19 months	22 years
Marriage Place	W. H. Lankow's residence Tuamarina
Folio	05/5741
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. U. Spence

12 August 1905

Joseph Bernard Waring
Jessie Stewart

Joseph Bernard Wareing
Jessie Stewart
💍 1905/2143

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
24

Blenheim
Blenheim

8 weeks
3 weeks

Mrs. Broman's residence St. Andrews Street Blenheim

05/4468

12 August 1905

Rev. L. C. Servapean

No	39
Date of Notice	12 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Bernard Waring	Jessie Stewart
BDM Match (98%)	Joseph Bernard Wareing	Jessie Stewart
	💍 1905/2143
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	8 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Mrs. Broman's residence St. Andrews Street Blenheim
Folio	05/4468
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. C. Servapean

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 1903. 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).