Intentions to Marry, 1907 Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840434, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1907 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1907a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1907b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1907c).

Page 109

District of Levin Quarter ending 30 June 1907 Registrar M. C. 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

209

2 April 1907

George Worth
Daisy Augusta Bowen

George Worth
Daisy Agatha Bowen
💍 1907/2636

Widower
Spinster

Telegraphist
Domestic duties

39
25

Levin
Levin

Three days
One month

Church of England, Levin

07/2775

2 April 1907

Rev. A. E. Warsley

No	209
Date of Notice	2 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Worth	Daisy Augusta Bowen
BDM Match (89%)	George Worth	Daisy Agatha Bowen
	💍 1907/2636
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Domestic duties
Age	39	25
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Three days	One month
Marriage Place	Church of England, Levin
Folio	07/2775
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. E. Warsley

210

9 April 1907

William Anderson
Amy Winifred De Ridder

William Anderson
Amy Winifred De Ridder
💍 1907/2633

Bachelor
Spinster

Ship Captain
Home duties

26
25

Levin
Levin

Three days
Three days

Registry Office, Levin

07/2772

9 April 1907

M. C. Nation

No	210
Date of Notice	9 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Anderson	Amy Winifred De Ridder
	💍 1907/2633
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ship Captain	Home duties
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Three days	Three days
Marriage Place	Registry Office, Levin
Folio	07/2772
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1907
Officiating Minister	M. C. Nation

211

13 April 1907

George Thomas Panting
Isabella Mary Thompson

George Thomas Panting
Isabella Mary Thompson
💍 1907/2634

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Home duties

24
19

Levin
Levin

Three days
Three days

Registry Office, Levin

07/2773

Lydia Thompson, mother of bride

13 April 1907

M. C. Nation

No	211
Date of Notice	13 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Thomas Panting	Isabella Mary Thompson
	💍 1907/2634
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Home duties
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Three days	Three days
Marriage Place	Registry Office, Levin
Folio	07/2773
Consent	Lydia Thompson, mother of bride
Date of Certificate	13 April 1907
Officiating Minister	M. C. Nation

212

6 May 1907

Sydney Valsley
Ethel Lowe Brewster

Sydney Walkley
Ethel Lowe Brewster
💍 1907/2635

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Home duties

37
21

Levin
Levin

Three days
Four years

Church of England, Levin

07/2774

6 May 1907

Rev. A. E. Warsley

No	212
Date of Notice	6 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Valsley	Ethel Lowe Brewster
BDM Match (93%)	Sydney Walkley	Ethel Lowe Brewster
	💍 1907/2635
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Home duties
Age	37	21
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Three days	Four years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Levin
Folio	07/2774
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. E. Warsley

213

18 May 1907

Henry Hill
Mina Geraldine Retter

Henry Gill
Nina Geraldine Retter
💍 1907/2638

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman
Home duties

27
24

Levin
Levin

Four years
Thirteen years

Church of England, Levin

07/2777

18 May 1907

Rev. A. E. Warsley

No	213
Date of Notice	18 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hill	Mina Geraldine Retter
BDM Match (93%)	Henry Gill	Nina Geraldine Retter
	💍 1907/2638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman	Home duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Four years	Thirteen years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Levin
Folio	07/2777
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. E. Warsley

214

29 May 1907

William Floyd Harrop
Nellie Elizabeth Pown

William Floyd Harrop
Nellie Elizabeth Snow
💍 1907/2640

Bachelor
Spinster

Renter agent
Home duties

39
25

Levin
Levin

Three days
Twenty years

Gospel Hall, Levin

07/2779

29 May 1907

Mr. Thos. Rowe

No	214
Date of Notice	29 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Floyd Harrop	Nellie Elizabeth Pown
BDM Match (93%)	William Floyd Harrop	Nellie Elizabeth Snow
	💍 1907/2640
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Renter agent	Home duties
Age	39	25
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Three days	Twenty years
Marriage Place	Gospel Hall, Levin
Folio	07/2779
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Mr. Thos. Rowe

215

4 June 1907

William Henry Woollett
Isabella Morrison Rae

William Henery Woollett
Isabella Morrison Rae
💍 1907/2639

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Home duties

25
20

Levin
Levin

Three years
Two years

Residence of Mrs. Rae, Levin

07/2778

Jane Rae, mother of bride

4 June 1907

Rev. McCaw

No	215
Date of Notice	4 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Woollett	Isabella Morrison Rae
BDM Match (98%)	William Henery Woollett	Isabella Morrison Rae
	💍 1907/2639
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Home duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Three years	Two years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Rae, Levin
Folio	07/2778
Consent	Jane Rae, mother of bride
Date of Certificate	4 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. McCaw

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).