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 250

District of Hunterville Quarter ending 30 September 1911 Registrar A. F. Johnston

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

11 July 1911

James Anthony Persson
Alviena Petison

James Anthony Persson
Alinena Petersen
💍 1911/4751

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Mechanic
Domestic

28
20

Hunterville
Kouranga

6 months
20 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Palmerston North

11/460

11 July 1911

Registrar of Marriages, Palmerston North

No	8
Date of Notice	11 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Anthony Persson	Alviena Petison
BDM Match (84%)	James Anthony Persson	Alinena Petersen
	💍 1911/4751
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Mechanic	Domestic
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Kouranga
Length of Residence	6 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Palmerston North
Folio	11/460
Consent	2
Date of Certificate	11 July 1911
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Palmerston North

21 July 1911

Percival Hirst
Ellen Holloway

Percival Hirst
Ellen Holloway
💍 1911/6002

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

26
23

Hunterville
Sandon Block

4 days
15 years

In the residence of John Holloway, Sandon Block

11/5939

21 July 1911

Rev. J. B. Hall

No	9
Date of Notice	21 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Hirst	Ellen Holloway
	💍 1911/6002
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Sandon Block
Length of Residence	4 days	15 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of John Holloway, Sandon Block
Folio	11/5939
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Hall

9 August 1911

Vincent James Ronowicz
Violet May Steinmuller

Vincent James Ronowicz
Violet May Steinmuller
💍 1911/5259

Bachelor
Spinster

Rly. Employee
Domestic

24
23

Hunterville
Hunterville

3 days
4 years

In the residence of F. W. Steinmuller, Hunterville

11/5119

9 August 1911

Rev. F. Hobanolly

No	10
Date of Notice	9 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vincent James Ronowicz	Violet May Steinmuller
	💍 1911/5259
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Rly. Employee	Domestic
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Hunterville
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of F. W. Steinmuller, Hunterville
Folio	11/5119
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Hobanolly

25 August 1911

Frederick Rudolph Small
Ethel Watson

Frederick Rutherford Small
Ethel Watson
💍 1911/5783

Bachelor
Spinster

Livery Stable Keeper
Domestic

29
23

Hunterville
Marton

2 years
1 month

Methodist Church

11/5626

25 August 1911

Rev. C. Griffin

No	11
Date of Notice	25 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Rudolph Small	Ethel Watson
BDM Match (85%)	Frederick Rutherford Small	Ethel Watson
	💍 1911/5783
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Livery Stable Keeper	Domestic
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Marton
Length of Residence	2 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Methodist Church
Folio	11/5626
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Griffin

30 August 1911

Norman Luja Dahl
Alice Mabel Brown

Norman Luja Dahl
Alice Mabel Brown
💍 1911/5995

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairy Expert
School Teacher

23
22

Hunterville
Pakihikura

5 days
3 years

Presbyterian Church, Hunterville

11/5938

30 August 1911

Rev. J. B. Hall

No	12
Date of Notice	30 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Luja Dahl	Alice Mabel Brown
	💍 1911/5995
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairy Expert	School Teacher
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Pakihikura
Length of Residence	5 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hunterville
Folio	11/5938
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Hall

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).