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 854

District of Reefton Quarter ending 31 March 1911 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

23 January 1911

Herbert James Ribel Smith
Annie Margaret Mary Chapman

Herbert James Ribet Smith
Annie Margaret Mary Chapman
💍 1911/2551

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock-drover
Domestic duties

20
18

Inangahua Junction
Inangahua Junction

6 years
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Reefton

11/1612

Alfred Smith, Father

23 January 1911

Rev. A. Galerne

No	1
Date of Notice	23 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert James Ribel Smith	Annie Margaret Mary Chapman
BDM Match (98%)	Herbert James Ribet Smith	Annie Margaret Mary Chapman
	💍 1911/2551
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock-drover	Domestic duties
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Inangahua Junction	Inangahua Junction
Length of Residence	6 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Reefton
Folio	11/1612
Consent	Alfred Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	23 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Galerne

31 January 1911

Richard Ronchi
Catherine McVicar

Richard Ronchi
Catherine McVicar
💍 1911/1899

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic duties

26
29

Waiuta
Waiuta

3 days
3 days

Anglican Vicarage, Reefton

11/1400

31 January 1911

Rev. F. Quinkell

No	2
Date of Notice	31 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Ronchi	Catherine McVicar
	💍 1911/1899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic duties
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Waiuta	Waiuta
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Anglican Vicarage, Reefton
Folio	11/1400
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Quinkell

13 February 1911

Ernest Willoughby O'Regan
Margaret Kathleen O'Rourke

Ernest Willoughby O'Regan
Margaret Kathleey O Rourke
💍 1911/2550

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach-builder
Bar-maid

24
24

Reefton
Reefton

20 months
7 months

Roman Catholic Church, Reefton

11/1611

13 February 1911

Rev. A. Galerne

No	3
Date of Notice	13 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Willoughby O'Regan	Margaret Kathleen O'Rourke
BDM Match (96%)	Ernest Willoughby O'Regan	Margaret Kathleey O Rourke
	💍 1911/2550
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach-builder	Bar-maid
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	20 months	7 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Reefton
Folio	11/1611
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Galerne

9 March 1911

Michael Kennedy
Hilda Grace Roby Griffin

Michael Kennedy
Hilda Grace Roby Griffin
💍 1911/2146

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

27
20

Globe Hill
Globe Hill

27 years
16 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Reefton

11/1599

Edward Griffin, Father

9 March 1911

Henry Smith, Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	9 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Kennedy	Hilda Grace Roby Griffin
	💍 1911/2146
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Globe Hill	Globe Hill
Length of Residence	27 years	16 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Reefton
Folio	11/1599
Consent	Edward Griffin, Father
Date of Certificate	9 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Henry Smith, Registrar

18 March 1911

John Charles White
Nellie Mahon

John Charles White
Nellie Mahon
💍 1911/400

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

29
23

Blacks Point
Blacks Point

6 years
23 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Reefton

11/1613

18 March 1911

Rev. A. Galerne

No	5
Date of Notice	18 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles White	Nellie Mahon
	💍 1911/400
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Blacks Point	Blacks Point
Length of Residence	6 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Reefton
Folio	11/1613
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Galerne

29 March 1911

William Hewbiggen Prentice
Kate Saundry Leggoe

William Newbiggen Prentice
Kate Saundry Leggoe
💍 1911/3906

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic duties

30
25

Reefton
Reefton

30 years
25 years

Wesley Church, Reefton

11/3637

29 March 1911

Rev. R. Wilson

No	6
Date of Notice	29 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hewbiggen Prentice	Kate Saundry Leggoe
BDM Match (98%)	William Newbiggen Prentice	Kate Saundry Leggoe
	💍 1911/3906
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic duties
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	30 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church, Reefton
Folio	11/3637
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Wilson

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).