Intentions to Marry, 1906 Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840431, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1906 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1906a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1906b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1906c).

Page 115

District of Levin Quarter ending 30 June 1906 Registrar William Charles Nation

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

186

11 April 1906

Frank James Merson
Edith Bignall

Frank James Merson
Edith Bignal
💍 1906/866

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Domestic

30
21

Levin
Levin

Three years
Sixteen years

Office of Registrar, Levin

06/2196

11 April 1906

M. C. Nation, Registrar

No	186
Date of Notice	11 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank James Merson	Edith Bignall
BDM Match (96%)	Frank James Merson	Edith Bignal
	💍 1906/866
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Domestic
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Three years	Sixteen years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Levin
Folio	06/2196
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1906
Officiating Minister	M. C. Nation, Registrar

187

1 May 1906

Herbert Edgar Bright
Ruth Watson

Herbert Edgar Bright
Ruth Watson
💍 1906/877

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

21
18

Levin
Levin

One month
Two months

Office of Registrar, Levin

06/2197

David Watson, father of bride

1 May 1906

M. C. Nation, Registrar

No	187
Date of Notice	1 May 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Edgar Bright	Ruth Watson
	💍 1906/877
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	One month	Two months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Levin
Folio	06/2197
Consent	David Watson, father of bride
Date of Certificate	1 May 1906
Officiating Minister	M. C. Nation, Registrar

188

18 May 1906

William Henry Clark
Ethel Grace Eleanor Cockrell

William Henry Clark
Ethel Grace Eleanor Cockrell
💍 1906/899

Bachelor
Spinster

School teacher
Domestic duties

28
29

Kereru
Otaki

Four years
Seven years

Residence of Mrs Cockrell, Otaki

06/2237

18 May 1906

Rev. J. R. Clark, Wesleyan

No	188
Date of Notice	18 May 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Clark	Ethel Grace Eleanor Cockrell
	💍 1906/899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School teacher	Domestic duties
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Kereru	Otaki
Length of Residence	Four years	Seven years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Cockrell, Otaki
Folio	06/2237
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Clark, Wesleyan

189

21 May 1906

Herbert Edward Lodge
Ada Grace Stansell

Herbert Edward Lodge
Ada Grace Stansell
💍 1906/885

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

28
26

Levin
Levin

Two months
Three days

English Church, Levin

06/2199

21 May 1906

Rev. A. E. Worsley

No	189
Date of Notice	21 May 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Edward Lodge	Ada Grace Stansell
	💍 1906/885
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Two months	Three days
Marriage Place	English Church, Levin
Folio	06/2199
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 May 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. E. Worsley

190

31 May 1906

Ernest Charles Warwick
Mary Brackenridge

Ernert Charles Warwick
Mary Brackewidge
💍 1906/884

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic duties

27
22

Levin
Levin

Nine months
Nine months

Office of Registrar, Levin

06/2198

31 May 1906

M. C. Nation, Registrar

No	190
Date of Notice	31 May 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Charles Warwick	Mary Brackenridge
BDM Match (92%)	Ernert Charles Warwick	Mary Brackewidge
	💍 1906/884
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Nine months	Nine months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Levin
Folio	06/2198
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1906
Officiating Minister	M. C. Nation, Registrar

191

7 June 1906

William Rews
Ellen Ida Jacka

William Kew
Ellen Ida Jacka
💍 1906/886

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

56
37

Levin
Levin

Three days
Several years

Residence of Mr E. J. Judd, Weraroa

06/2200

7 June 1906

Rev. J. Wrigley, Wesleyan

No	191
Date of Notice	7 June 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Rews	Ellen Ida Jacka
BDM Match (92%)	William Kew	Ellen Ida Jacka
	💍 1906/886
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	56	37
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Three days	Several years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr E. J. Judd, Weraroa
Folio	06/2200
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Wrigley, Wesleyan

192

29 June 1906

John George Hubert Hankins
Olive Mary Hickson

John George Herbert Hawkins
Olive Mary Hickson
💍 1906/4161

Bachelor
Spinster

Auctioneer
Domestic duties

32
23

Levin
Foxton

Two years
Five days

Church of England, Foxton

06/4251

29 June 1906

Rev. H. B. Wilson, Ch. of England

No	192
Date of Notice	29 June 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John George Hubert Hankins	Olive Mary Hickson
BDM Match (94%)	John George Herbert Hawkins	Olive Mary Hickson
	💍 1906/4161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Auctioneer	Domestic duties
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Levin	Foxton
Length of Residence	Two years	Five days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Foxton
Folio	06/4251
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 June 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Wilson, Ch. of England

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).