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 892

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 30 June 1911 Registrar Benjamin Harper

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 May 1911

Benjamin Tindall
Ellen Ayres

Benjamin Tindale
Ellen Aynsley
💍 1911/3792

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

30
23

Marsden
Marsden

6 months
6 months

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

11/3497

11 May 1911

Rev. Sw. W. York

No	34
Date of Notice	11 May 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Tindall	Ellen Ayres
BDM Match (82%)	Benjamin Tindale	Ellen Aynsley
	💍 1911/3792
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Marsden	Marsden
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	11/3497
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Sw. W. York

14 May 1911

George Ford Webster
Jane Ivy Donaldson Whitesmith

George Fox Webster
Jane Ivy Donaldson Whitesmith
💍 1911/3726

Bachelor
Spinster

Steward

21
21

Christchurch
Runanga

3 days
5 years

Presbyterian Church at Greymouth

11/3430

14 May 1911

Rev. John McKenzie

No	35
Date of Notice	14 May 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ford Webster	Jane Ivy Donaldson Whitesmith
BDM Match (95%)	George Fox Webster	Jane Ivy Donaldson Whitesmith
	💍 1911/3726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Steward
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Runanga
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church at Greymouth
Folio	11/3430
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. John McKenzie

19 May 1911

Alexander Lamberton
Mary Mackley

Alexander Lamberton
May Mackley
💍 1911/3795

Bachelor
Spinster

Department room Keeper

36
36

Greymouth, Totara Flat
Waipuna

3 days
36 years

Mr O. Butler's Residence at Gladstone Siding

11/3500

19 May 1911

Rev. Y. Taylor

No	36
Date of Notice	19 May 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Lamberton	Mary Mackley
BDM Match (96%)	Alexander Lamberton	May Mackley
	💍 1911/3795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Department room Keeper
Age	36	36
Dwelling Place	Greymouth, Totara Flat	Waipuna
Length of Residence	3 days	36 years
Marriage Place	Mr O. Butler's Residence at Gladstone Siding
Folio	11/3500
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Y. Taylor

22 May 1911

Norman Hollow
Ethel Ivy Evans

Norman Hollow
Ethel Grey Evans
💍 1911/3722

Widower
Spinster

Photographer

38
36

Greymouth
Greymouth, Shakespeare St

18 months
36 years

at the residence of Mr W. B. Evans, Shakespeare St, Greymouth

11/3426

22 May 1911

Rev. R. Stewart

No	37
Date of Notice	22 May 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Hollow	Ethel Ivy Evans
BDM Match (91%)	Norman Hollow	Ethel Grey Evans
	💍 1911/3722
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Photographer
Age	38	36
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth, Shakespeare St
Length of Residence	18 months	36 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Mr W. B. Evans, Shakespeare St, Greymouth
Folio	11/3426
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Stewart

24 May 1911

August Theodore Erikson
Martha McIvor

August Theodor Erikson
Martha McIvor
💍 1911/3723

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver

35
29

Greymouth
Greymouth

6 years
3 years

Presbyterian Church, Greymouth

11/3427

24 May 1911

Rev. R. Stewart

No	38
Date of Notice	24 May 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	August Theodore Erikson	Martha McIvor
BDM Match (98%)	August Theodor Erikson	Martha McIvor
	💍 1911/3723
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver
Age	35	29
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Greymouth
Folio	11/3427
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Stewart

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).