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 340

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 March 1911 Registrar Charles Edward Shorth

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

27 February 1911

James Kirker
Coralie Mary Crawford

James Kirker
Coralie Mary Crawford
💍 1911/1078

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic

28
18

Linton
Linton

3 days
6 years

Mr. Crawford's House, Linton

11/554

John Crawford, Father

27 February 1911

Rev. Alex. Doull, Presbyterian

No	28
Date of Notice	27 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kirker	Coralie Mary Crawford
	💍 1911/1078
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Linton	Linton
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Crawford's House, Linton
Folio	11/554
Consent	John Crawford, Father
Date of Certificate	27 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex. Doull, Presbyterian

27 February 1911

Frederick Charles Middleton
Isabella Alexander

Frederick Charles Middleton
Isabella Alexander
💍 1911/1111

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Domestic

27
25

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

15 years
8 years

Presbyterian Church

11/555

27 February 1911

Rev. Alex. Doull, Presbyterian

No	29
Date of Notice	27 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Charles Middleton	Isabella Alexander
	💍 1911/1111
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Domestic
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	15 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	11/555
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex. Doull, Presbyterian

1 March 1911

William Adams
Mabel Gilchrist

William Adams
Mabel Gilchrist
💍 1911/1073

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

31
24

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 years
20 years

Registrar's Office, Palmerston North

11/549

1 March 1911

C. E. Shortt, Registrar of Marriages

No	30
Date of Notice	1 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Adams	Mabel Gilchrist
	💍 1911/1073
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Palmerston North
Folio	11/549
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1911
Officiating Minister	C. E. Shortt, Registrar of Marriages

4 March 1911

Arthur Mitchell Smart
Cecile May Wilton

Arthur Mitchell Smart
Cecile May Wilton
💍 1911/1122

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Milliner

21
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 days

Mrs. Bowles House, 123 Church St. E., Palmerston North

11/556

4 March 1911

Rev. Alex. Doull, Presbyterian

No	31
Date of Notice	4 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Mitchell Smart	Cecile May Wilton
	💍 1911/1122
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Milliner
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Mrs. Bowles House, 123 Church St. E., Palmerston North
Folio	11/556
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex. Doull, Presbyterian

4 March 1911

Arthur Stanley Bayliss
Elizabeth Selina Coles

Arthur Stanley Bayliss
Elizabeth Selina Coles
💍 1911/1083

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

31
27

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

2 months
22 years

All Saints Church, Palmerston North

11/536

4 March 1911

Rev. G. A. S. Kendrick, Anglican

No	32
Date of Notice	4 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Stanley Bayliss	Elizabeth Selina Coles
	💍 1911/1083
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	2 months	22 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Palmerston North
Folio	11/536
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. A. S. Kendrick, Anglican

6 March 1911

Louis Ferdinand Marsack Segner
Lydia Thompson

Louis Ferdinand Marsack Tegner
Lydia Thompson
💍 1911/1074

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

24
39

Palmerston North
Topomaru

6 months
16 years

Registrar's Office, Palmerston North

10/550

6 March 1911

C. E. Shortt, Registrar of Marriages

No	33
Date of Notice	6 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis Ferdinand Marsack Segner	Lydia Thompson
BDM Match (98%)	Louis Ferdinand Marsack Tegner	Lydia Thompson
	💍 1911/1074
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	39
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Topomaru
Length of Residence	6 months	16 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Palmerston North
Folio	10/550
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1911
Officiating Minister	C. E. Shortt, Registrar of Marriages

13 March 1911

Frederick Nicholls
Mary Ellen Restall

Frederick Nicholls
Mary Ellen Kestall
💍 1911/4144

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

54
53

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

30 years
6 years

Mr. Restall's residence, Keeling St., Palmerston North

11/3918

13 March 1911

Rev. David Haird, Congregational

No	34
Date of Notice	13 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Nicholls	Mary Ellen Restall
BDM Match (97%)	Frederick Nicholls	Mary Ellen Kestall
	💍 1911/4144
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	54	53
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	30 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Restall's residence, Keeling St., Palmerston North
Folio	11/3918
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Haird, Congregational

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).