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 324

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 June 1910 Registrar Charles E. Shortt

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

14 May 1910

John Aitken
Caroline Witt

John Aitken
Caroline Witt
💍 1910/2451

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Domestic Duties

63 years
59 years

Gorge Road, Ashhurst
Gorge Road, Ashhurst

23 years
23 years

Registrar's Office, Palmerston North

10/2590

14 May 1910

C. E. Shortt

No	64
Date of Notice	14 May 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Aitken	Caroline Witt
	💍 1910/2451
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	63 years	59 years
Dwelling Place	Gorge Road, Ashhurst	Gorge Road, Ashhurst
Length of Residence	23 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Palmerston North
Folio	10/2590
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1910
Officiating Minister	C. E. Shortt

17 May 1910

William Anderson Butters
Mary Annie Butters

William Anderson Butters
Mary Annie Mist
💍 1910/2759

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

25 years
34 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

12 days
7 years

Baptist Church, Church Street, Palmerston North

10/2842

19 May 1910

Rev. F. Macdonald

No	65
Date of Notice	17 May 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Anderson Butters	Mary Annie Butters
BDM Match (83%)	William Anderson Butters	Mary Annie Mist
	💍 1910/2759
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	25 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	12 days	7 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Church Street, Palmerston North
Folio	10/2842
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Macdonald

18 May 1910

Hans William Burty
Edith Elizabeth Stillwell

Hans William Curtz
Edith Elizabeth Stilwell
💍 1910/2442

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Housekeeper

25 years
18 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

25 years
3 days

Mr. Baker's Cottage, 3 Grey Street, Palmerston North

10/2558

Richard Henry Edward Stillwell, Father

18 May 1910

Rev. G. W. J. Spence

No	66
Date of Notice	18 May 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hans William Burty	Edith Elizabeth Stillwell
BDM Match (92%)	Hans William Curtz	Edith Elizabeth Stilwell
	💍 1910/2442
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Housekeeper
Age	25 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	25 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Mr. Baker's Cottage, 3 Grey Street, Palmerston North
Folio	10/2558
Consent	Richard Henry Edward Stillwell, Father
Date of Certificate	18 May 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. J. Spence

23 May 1910

Alfred Hilton Huncan
Wilhelmina Charlotte Spinks

Alfred Dillon Duncan
Wilhelmina Charlotte Spinks
💍 1910/8033

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Household Duties

41 years
27 years

David Street, Palmerston North
Aldequave Street, Palmerston North

4 years
27 years

Methodist Church, Broad Street, Palmerston North

10/2559

23 May 1910

Rev. G. W. J. Spence

No	68
Date of Notice	23 May 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Hilton Huncan	Wilhelmina Charlotte Spinks
BDM Match (93%)	Alfred Dillon Duncan	Wilhelmina Charlotte Spinks
	💍 1910/8033
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Household Duties
Age	41 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	David Street, Palmerston North	Aldequave Street, Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Broad Street, Palmerston North
Folio	10/2559
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. J. Spence

23 May 1910

Thomas Carmody
Annie Walsh

Thomas Carmody
Annie Walsh
💍 1910/3734

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Nurse

34 years
27 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

14 years
1 year

St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North

10/3879

23 May 1910

Rev. Father Costello

No	69
Date of Notice	23 May 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Carmody	Annie Walsh
	💍 1910/3734
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Nurse
Age	34 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	14 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North
Folio	10/3879
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Costello

23 May 1910

Charles John Allen
Sophie Florence Machinus

Charles John Allen
Sophie Florence Machirus
💍 1910/2749

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant
Household Duties

27 years
26 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

5 years
19 months

Mr. Bowman's Residence, Limbrick Street, Palmerston North

10/2835

23 May 1910

Adjutant Henry Haywood

No	70
Date of Notice	23 May 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles John Allen	Sophie Florence Machinus
BDM Match (98%)	Charles John Allen	Sophie Florence Machirus
	💍 1910/2749
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant	Household Duties
Age	27 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	5 years	19 months
Marriage Place	Mr. Bowman's Residence, Limbrick Street, Palmerston North
Folio	10/2835
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1910
Officiating Minister	Adjutant Henry Haywood

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).