Intentions to Marry, 1912 Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840449, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1912 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Gisborne (1912a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1912b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1912c).

Page 585

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1912 Registrar Gilbert Graham Hodghins

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

455

31 May 1912

James Kirl
Annie Kelley

James Kirk
Annie Killey
💍 1912/2793

James Thompson
Annie Kellett
💍 1912/505

James Keenan
Annie McKeever
💍 1912/7380

James Henry Hocking
Annie Pulley
💍 1913/796

Widower
Spinster

Telegraphist

41
35

Wellington
Wellington

11 years
7 months

Residence of J. H. Kennshear, Wade street, Wadestown, Wellington

12/2539

31 May 1912

Adj D. A. Gunn

No	455
Date of Notice	31 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kirl	Annie Kelley
BDM Match (91%)	James Kirk	Annie Killey
	💍 1912/2793
BDM Match (64%)	James Thompson	Annie Kellett
	💍 1912/505
BDM Match (61%)	James Keenan	Annie McKeever
	💍 1912/7380
BDM Match (60%)	James Henry Hocking	Annie Pulley
	💍 1913/796
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	41	35
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	11 years	7 months
Marriage Place	Residence of J. H. Kennshear, Wade street, Wadestown, Wellington
Folio	12/2539
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Adj D. A. Gunn

456

31 May 1912

Leslie Nisen Sternberg
Theresa Phillipa Naussbaum

Leslie Nisen Sternberg
Theresa Phillipa Naussbaum
💍 1912/2763

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

32
19

Wellington
Wellington

4 years
3 years

Synagogue, Wellington Terrace, Wellington

12/2550

Nathan Phillip Naussbaum, Father

31 May 1912

Rev. H. van Staveren

No	456
Date of Notice	31 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Nisen Sternberg	Theresa Phillipa Naussbaum
	💍 1912/2763
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Synagogue, Wellington Terrace, Wellington
Folio	12/2550
Consent	Nathan Phillip Naussbaum, Father
Date of Certificate	31 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. van Staveren

457

31 May 1912

Francis Robert William Green
Mary Josephine McDonald

Francis Robert William Green
Mary Josephine McDonald
💍 1912/2800

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

28
27

Wellington
Hutt

28 years
27 years

St Peters & St Pauls Church, Hutt

12/2545

31 May 1912

Rev J. J. Lane

No	457
Date of Notice	31 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Robert William Green	Mary Josephine McDonald
	💍 1912/2800
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Hutt
Length of Residence	28 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St Peters & St Pauls Church, Hutt
Folio	12/2545
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev J. J. Lane

458

31 May 1912

Leonard Allan
Elsie Pierpoint Wheatley

Leonard Allan
Elsie Pierpoint Wheatley
💍 1912/2852

Bachelor
Spinster

Wireworker

22
22

Wellington
Christchurch

1 month
7 years

Residence of Mr. Ralph Wheatley, Norwood street, Beckenham, Christchurch

12/2650

31 May 1912

Rev. Charles Murray

No	458
Date of Notice	31 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Allan	Elsie Pierpoint Wheatley
	💍 1912/2852
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wireworker
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 month	7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Ralph Wheatley, Norwood street, Beckenham, Christchurch
Folio	12/2650
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Murray

459

31 May 1912

Arthur Esam
Anastatia Marion Buist

Arthur Esam
Anastasia Marion Buist
💍 1912/2824

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant

38
38

Wellington
Wellington

7 years
3 days

Basilica, Hill St, Wellington

12/2595

31 May 1912

Rev. C. J. Venning

No	459
Date of Notice	31 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Esam	Anastatia Marion Buist
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Esam	Anastasia Marion Buist
	💍 1912/2824
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant
Age	38	38
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	7 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Basilica, Hill St, Wellington
Folio	12/2595
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. J. Venning

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).