Intentions to Marry, 1911 Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840446, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1911 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, (1911a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1911b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1911c).

Page 009

District of Dannevirke Quarter ending 31 March 1911 Registrar Hugh Tilsley

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

16 January 1911

Alexander Lewis Stewart
Margaret Janet Marshall

Alexander Lewis Stewart
Margaret Janet Marshall
💍 1911/1108

Arthur James Clarke
Margaret Janet Marshall
💍 1912/710

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

39
31

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

30 years
8 years

Presbyterian Church, Dannevirke

11/436

16 January 1911

Rev. Alex Grant

No	1
Date of Notice	16 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Lewis Stewart	Margaret Janet Marshall
	💍 1911/1108
BDM Match (63%)	Arthur James Clarke	Margaret Janet Marshall
	💍 1912/710
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	39	31
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	30 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dannevirke
Folio	11/436
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex Grant

20 January 1911

Henry Edward Laws
Kathleen Harper

Henry Edward Laws
Kathleen Harper
💍 1911/1109

Bachelor
Divorced (Decree absolute 1906 Wellington)

Farmer

55
41

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

33 years
4 years

Residence of The Bride, Burns Street, Dannevirke

11/437

20 January 1911

Rev. Alex Grant

No	2
Date of Notice	20 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edward Laws	Kathleen Harper
	💍 1911/1109
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (Decree absolute 1906 Wellington)
Profession	Farmer
Age	55	41
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	33 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of The Bride, Burns Street, Dannevirke
Folio	11/437
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex Grant

7 February 1911

Sigurd Ericksen
Bertha Pauline Pedersen

Sigurd Ericksen
Bertha Pauline Pedersen
💍 1911/940

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
21

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

24 years
21 years

Registrar's Office, Dannevirke

11/315

7 February 1911

H. Tilsley, Registrar

No	3
Date of Notice	7 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sigurd Ericksen	Bertha Pauline Pedersen
	💍 1911/940
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	24 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Dannevirke
Folio	11/315
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1911
Officiating Minister	H. Tilsley, Registrar

8 February 1911

Mutu Karaitiana
Nelly Jones

Mutu Karaitiana
Nelly Jones
💍 1911/941

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

49
35

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

3 days
3 years

Registrar's Office, Dannevirke

11/316

8 February 1911

H. Tilsley, Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	8 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mutu Karaitiana	Nelly Jones
	💍 1911/941
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	49	35
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Dannevirke
Folio	11/316
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1911
Officiating Minister	H. Tilsley, Registrar

11 February 1911

William Frederick Ericksen
Flora McIntyre

William Frederick Ericksen
Flora McIntyre
💍 1911/803

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

31
22

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

3 days
3 days

Anglican Church, Dannevirke

11/252

11 February 1911

Rev. E. Robertshawe

No	5
Date of Notice	11 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Ericksen	Flora McIntyre
	💍 1911/803
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Dannevirke
Folio	11/252
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Robertshawe

18 February 1911

William Alexander Cittadini
Mary Hershaw

William Alexander Cittadini
Mary Kershaw
💍 1911/911

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
32

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

3 days
3 days

Anglican Church, Dannevirke

11/253

18 February 1911

Rev. E. Robertshawe

No	6
Date of Notice	18 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alexander Cittadini	Mary Hershaw
BDM Match (96%)	William Alexander Cittadini	Mary Kershaw
	💍 1911/911
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Dannevirke
Folio	11/253
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Robertshawe

20 February 1911

Archibald Moses Nicol
Daisy Edwina Paterson

Archibald Moses McNicol
Daisy Edwina Paterson
💍 1911/1050

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist

32
27

Dannevirke
Farndon, Hawkes Bay

15 months
5 years

Residence of Robb L. Paterson, Napier

11/501

20 February 1911

Rev. J. A. Asher

No	7
Date of Notice	20 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Moses Nicol	Daisy Edwina Paterson
BDM Match (96%)	Archibald Moses McNicol	Daisy Edwina Paterson
	💍 1911/1050
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Farndon, Hawkes Bay
Length of Residence	15 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Robb L. Paterson, Napier
Folio	11/501
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher

20 February 1911

Leonard James Skerman
Margaret Hughes

Leonard James Skerman
Margaret Hughes
💍 1911/922

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Dealer

43
40

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

3 years
4 months

Anglican Church, Dannevirke

11/254

20 February 1911

Rev. E. Robertshawe

No	8
Date of Notice	20 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard James Skerman	Margaret Hughes
	💍 1911/922
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Dealer
Age	43	40
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	3 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Dannevirke
Folio	11/254
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Robertshawe

20 February 1911

Ernest Ireland
Helen Jones

Ernest Ireland
Helen Jones
💍 1911/1110

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

22
22

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

3 days
3 days

Dwelling House of Mr. E. Smart, Stanley St., Dannevirke

11/438

20 February 1911

Rev. A. Grant

No	9
Date of Notice	20 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Ireland	Helen Jones
	💍 1911/1110
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Mr. E. Smart, Stanley St., Dannevirke
Folio	11/438
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Grant

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).