Intentions to Marry, 1910 Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840443, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1910 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1910a), Wellington, , Hawke's Bay, Nelson, Westland (1910b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1910c).

Page 314

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 March 1910 Registrar Robert North Keeling

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

5 January 1910

Michael Hicken
Jane Bayliss

Michael Hickey
Jane Bayliss
💍 1910/786

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Domestic Service

26
30

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

2 years 6 months
10 years

St Patrick's Church, Palmerston North

10/837

5 January 1910

Rev. P. G. Costello, Catholic Priest, Palmerston North

No	1
Date of Notice	5 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Hicken	Jane Bayliss
BDM Match (96%)	Michael Hickey	Jane Bayliss
	💍 1910/786
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Domestic Service
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	2 years 6 months	10 years
Marriage Place	St Patrick's Church, Palmerston North
Folio	10/837
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Costello, Catholic Priest, Palmerston North

6 January 1910

Robert McDougall
Mary Ann Hopkins

Robert McDougall
Mary Ann Hopkins
💍 1910/5278

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
19

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

2 years
19 years

House of Henry David Hopkins, Palmerston North

10/594

Henry David Hopkins, Father

6 January 1910

Rev. J. J. Thomas, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

No	2
Date of Notice	6 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McDougall	Mary Ann Hopkins
	💍 1910/5278
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	House of Henry David Hopkins, Palmerston North
Folio	10/594
Consent	Henry David Hopkins, Father
Date of Certificate	6 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Thomas, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

8 January 1910

John James Madden
Alice Mary Buckley

John James Madden
Alice Mary Buckley
💍 1910/789

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic Service

37
19

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

18 years
4 years

St Andrews Church, Palmerston North

10/841

William Henry Buckley, Father

8 January 1910

Rev. Isaac Yolley, Presbyterian Minister, Palmerston North

No	3
Date of Notice	8 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Madden	Alice Mary Buckley
	💍 1910/789
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Service
Age	37	19
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	18 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Church, Palmerston North
Folio	10/841
Consent	William Henry Buckley, Father
Date of Certificate	8 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Isaac Yolley, Presbyterian Minister, Palmerston North

15 January 1910

Charles Henry Coley
Elizabeth Vera Johnson

Charles Henry Coley
Elizabeth Vera Johnson
💍 1910/1008

Bachelor
Spinster

Flax Mill Scutcher
Domestic Service

23
17

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

10 days
3 years

Office of the Registrar, Palmerston North

10/812

Maria Hatcher, Mother

15 January 1910

Robt. North Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

No	4
Date of Notice	15 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Coley	Elizabeth Vera Johnson
	💍 1910/1008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flax Mill Scutcher	Domestic Service
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	10 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Palmerston North
Folio	10/812
Consent	Maria Hatcher, Mother
Date of Certificate	15 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Robt. North Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

17 January 1910

Thomas Harvey Dalton
Elizabeth Ella Dalton

Thomas Harvey
Elizabeth Ella Dalton
💍 1910/5279

Thomas Weaver
Elizabeth Dalton
💍 1910/511

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

26
17

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

1 year
6 years

House of W. A. B. Dalton, Palmerston North

10/595

William Bland Dalton, Father

17 January 1910

Rev. J. J. Thomas, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

No	5
Date of Notice	17 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Harvey Dalton	Elizabeth Ella Dalton
BDM Match (83%)	Thomas Harvey	Elizabeth Ella Dalton
	💍 1910/5279
BDM Match (61%)	Thomas Weaver	Elizabeth Dalton
	💍 1910/511
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	26	17
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	House of W. A. B. Dalton, Palmerston North
Folio	10/595
Consent	William Bland Dalton, Father
Date of Certificate	17 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Thomas, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

17 January 1910

Walter Henry Follas
Kate Swabey Sexton

Walter Henry Follas
Kate Swabey Sexton
💍 1910/797

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Dressmaker

23
23

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

10 years
4 years

All Saints Church, Palmerston North

10/826

17 January 1910

Rev. G. G. Harper, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

No	6
Date of Notice	17 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Follas	Kate Swabey Sexton
	💍 1910/797
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Dressmaker
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	10 years	4 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Palmerston North
Folio	10/826
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. G. Harper, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

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).