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 887

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 March 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

28 January 1911

Thomas Bond
Mary Jackson

Thomas Bond
Mary Jackson
💍 1911/405

James Johnsen
Mary Jackson
💍 1911/2395

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

30
20

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 1/2 years
4 years

Residence of Mrs Jackson, Cowper St., Greymouth

11/1626

William Jackson (Father)

28 January 1911

Rev Geo. W. York

No	7
Date of Notice	28 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Bond	Mary Jackson
	💍 1911/405
BDM Match (65%)	James Johnsen	Mary Jackson
	💍 1911/2395
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Jackson, Cowper St., Greymouth
Folio	11/1626
Consent	William Jackson (Father)
Date of Certificate	28 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev Geo. W. York

30 January 1911

Frederick Henry Stratford
Alice Linda Hamilton

Frederick Henry Stratford
Alice Linda Hamilton
💍 1911/1767

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver

29
23

Kaimata
Greymouth

9 years
23 years

Residence of Mrs L. Hamilton, Marsden Road, Greymouth

11/1315

30 January 1911

Rev Robt. Stewart

No	8
Date of Notice	30 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Henry Stratford	Alice Linda Hamilton
	💍 1911/1767
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Kaimata	Greymouth
Length of Residence	9 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs L. Hamilton, Marsden Road, Greymouth
Folio	11/1315
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev Robt. Stewart

4 February 1911

James Arthur Taylor
Frances Esther Herring

James Arthur Taylor
Frances Esther Herring
💍 1911/406

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic

26
22

Greymouth
Blaketown

3 years
6 years

Church of England at Greymouth

11/1627

4 February 1911

Geo W. York (Rev.)

No	9
Date of Notice	4 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Arthur Taylor	Frances Esther Herring
	💍 1911/406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Blaketown
Length of Residence	3 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Church of England at Greymouth
Folio	11/1627
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Geo W. York (Rev.)

6 February 1911

Bransby White
Margaret Stephens

Bransby White
Margaret Stephens
💍 1911/1933

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

28
21

Greymouth
Greymouth

10 years
2 years

Wesleyan Church, Greymouth

11/1459

6 February 1911

Rev Y. M. Guffini

No	10
Date of Notice	6 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bransby White	Margaret Stephens
	💍 1911/1933
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Greymouth
Folio	11/1459
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev Y. M. Guffini

6 February 1911

John Edwin Hewitt
Margaret Walshe

John Edwin Hewitt
Margaret Walshe
💍 1911/407

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

43
32

Woodend, Greymouth
Greymouth

20 years 3 days
32 years

Holy Trinity Church at Greymouth

11/1628

6 February 1911

Rev Geo. W. York

No	11
Date of Notice	6 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edwin Hewitt	Margaret Walshe
	💍 1911/407
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	43	32
Dwelling Place	Woodend, Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	20 years 3 days	32 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church at Greymouth
Folio	11/1628
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev Geo. W. York

14 February 1911

Frank William Michel
Alice Rebecca Blight

Frank William Michel
Alice Rebecca Blight
💍 1911/408

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser

22
19

Greymouth
Greymouth

22 years
12 months

Holy Trinity Church at Greymouth

11/1629

William George Blight (Father)

14 February 1911

Rev Geo. W. York

No	12
Date of Notice	14 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank William Michel	Alice Rebecca Blight
	💍 1911/408
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	22 years	12 months
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church at Greymouth
Folio	11/1629
Consent	William George Blight (Father)
Date of Certificate	14 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev Geo. W. York

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).