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 804

District of Reefton Quarter ending 31 December 1910 Registrar Henry Smith

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

15 December 1910

William Macleish Durant
Jessie Ralston Miller

William Macleish Durant
Jessie Ralston Miller
💍 1910/7524

Bachelor
Spinster

Mining Surveyor
Domestic duties

23
22

Globe Mine, Reefton
Roslyn, Dunedin

12 months
9 years

Residence of Dr. Miller, Roslyn, Dunedin

10/7901

15 December 1910

Rev. W. Scorgie, Presbyterian

No	27
Date of Notice	15 December 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Macleish Durant	Jessie Ralston Miller
	💍 1910/7524
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mining Surveyor	Domestic duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Globe Mine, Reefton	Roslyn, Dunedin
Length of Residence	12 months	9 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Dr. Miller, Roslyn, Dunedin
Folio	10/7901
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 December 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Scorgie, Presbyterian

19 December 1910

William John Renment
Alice Jane Thomas

William John Renment
Alice Jane Thomas
💍 1910/6868

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
Hotel Keeper

35
42

Crushington
Crushington

17 months
23 years

Anglican Church, Reefton

10/7279

19 December 1910

Rev. F. Quintrell, Anglican

No	28
Date of Notice	19 December 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Renment	Alice Jane Thomas
	💍 1910/6868
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	Hotel Keeper
Age	35	42
Dwelling Place	Crushington	Crushington
Length of Residence	17 months	23 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Reefton
Folio	10/7279
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Quintrell, Anglican

20 December 1910

Charles Henry Chandler
Johanna Loughnan

Charles Henry Chandler
Johanna Loughnan
💍 1910/6976

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

25
26

Progress Junction
Progress Junction

18 months
25 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Reefton

10/7340

20 December 1910

Rev. A. Galerne, Roman Catholic

No	29
Date of Notice	20 December 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Chandler	Johanna Loughnan
	💍 1910/6976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Progress Junction	Progress Junction
Length of Residence	18 months	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Reefton
Folio	10/7340
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Galerne, Roman Catholic

21 December 1910

Isaac Williams
Isabel Bowden Smith

Isaac Williams
Isabel Bowden Smith
💍 1910/7013

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Dressmaker

28
24

Reefton
Reefton

20 years
3 years

Residence of Hugh Smith, Glenburn Farm, Reefton

10/7376

21 December 1910

Rev. David Calder, Presbyterian

No	30
Date of Notice	21 December 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Williams	Isabel Bowden Smith
	💍 1910/7013
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Dressmaker
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	20 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Hugh Smith, Glenburn Farm, Reefton
Folio	10/7376
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 December 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Calder, Presbyterian

27 December 1910

Gilbert Edwin Fletcher
Helen Forbes Williams

Gilbert Edwin Fletcher
Helen Forbes Williams
💍 1910/6869

Bachelor
Spinster

Theatrical Manager
Domestic duties

31
18

Sydney
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

Anglican Church, Reefton

10/7280

William Forbes Williams, Father

27 December 1910

Rev. F. Quintrell, Anglican

No	31
Date of Notice	27 December 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Edwin Fletcher	Helen Forbes Williams
	💍 1910/6869
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Theatrical Manager	Domestic duties
Age	31	18
Dwelling Place	Sydney	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Reefton
Folio	10/7280
Consent	William Forbes Williams, Father
Date of Certificate	27 December 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Quintrell, Anglican

29 December 1910

Albert Ambrose Wells
Agness Scott Smith

Albert Ambrose Wells
Agnes Scott Smith
💍 1910/6870

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Postmistress

26
17

Crushington
Reefton

3 years
2 years

Residence of Hugh Smith, Glenburn Farm, Reefton

10/1281

Hugh Smith, Father

29 December 1910

Rev. F. Quintrell, Anglican

No	32
Date of Notice	29 December 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Ambrose Wells	Agness Scott Smith
BDM Match (97%)	Albert Ambrose Wells	Agnes Scott Smith
	💍 1910/6870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Postmistress
Age	26	17
Dwelling Place	Crushington	Reefton
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Hugh Smith, Glenburn Farm, Reefton
Folio	10/1281
Consent	Hugh Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	29 December 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Quintrell, Anglican

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).