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 729

District of Pelorus Quarter ending 30 June 1912 Registrar P. J. Macalister

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

24 April 1912

James Iles Clemens
Florence Reardon

James Iles Clemens
Florence Reardon
💍 1912/7947

Widower
Spinster

Bridge hand
Dressmaker

45
29

Crail Bay
Crail Bay

3 days
9 months

In the residence of Mr. B. McNabb, Crail Bay

12/6283

24 April 1912

Rev. E. A. Parker

No	2
Date of Notice	24 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Iles Clemens	Florence Reardon
	💍 1912/7947
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Bridge hand	Dressmaker
Age	45	29
Dwelling Place	Crail Bay	Crail Bay
Length of Residence	3 days	9 months
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. B. McNabb, Crail Bay
Folio	12/6283
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Parker

26 April 1912

Harry Dean Eyes
Anna Catherine Thomsen

Harry Dean Eyes
Anna Catherine Thomsen
💍 1912/7946

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand
Domestic duties

21
19

Flat Creek
Canvastown

12 years
4 years

Church of St. Paul, Canvastown

12/6282

Thomas Christian Thomsen, father

26 April 1912

Rev. E. A. Parker

No	3
Date of Notice	26 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Dean Eyes	Anna Catherine Thomsen
	💍 1912/7946
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand	Domestic duties
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Flat Creek	Canvastown
Length of Residence	12 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Church of St. Paul, Canvastown
Folio	12/6282
Consent	Thomas Christian Thomsen, father
Date of Certificate	26 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Parker

27 April 1912

Herbert Wilmor Eyes
Dorothy Roberts

Herbert Wilmor Eyes
Dorothy Roberts
💍 1912/7945

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill hand
Domestic duties

23
20

Pelorus Valley
Flat Creek

9 years
4 years

At the Church of St. Mark, Rai Valley

12/6281

Caroline Elizabeth Thorpe, mother

29 April 1912

Rev. E. A. Parker

No	4
Date of Notice	27 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Wilmor Eyes	Dorothy Roberts
	💍 1912/7945
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill hand	Domestic duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Pelorus Valley	Flat Creek
Length of Residence	9 years	4 years
Marriage Place	At the Church of St. Mark, Rai Valley
Folio	12/6281
Consent	Caroline Elizabeth Thorpe, mother
Date of Certificate	29 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Parker

2 May 1912

Herbert Stanley Mortimer
Dorice Elsie Andrews

Herbert Stanley Mortimer
Dorice Elsie Andrews
💍 1912/7942

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

20
19

Havelock Suburban
Havelock Suburban

2 years
19 years

At the residence of Hugh Andrews, Havelock Suburban

12/6280

James Mortimer, father; Hugh Andrews, father

2 May 1912

Rev. E. A. Parker

No	5
Date of Notice	2 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Stanley Mortimer	Dorice Elsie Andrews
	💍 1912/7942
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Havelock Suburban	Havelock Suburban
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Hugh Andrews, Havelock Suburban
Folio	12/6280
Consent	James Mortimer, father; Hugh Andrews, father
Date of Certificate	2 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Parker

7 May 1912

Alphonsus James Stratford
Edith Annie Twidle

Alphonso James Stratford
Edith Annie Twidle
💍 1912/3555

Bachelor
Spinster

Teamster
Domestic duties

25
23

Canvastown
Havelock

25 years
23 years

At the residence of William Twidle, Havelock

12/3358

7 May 1912

Mr. C. Aker

No	6
Date of Notice	7 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alphonsus James Stratford	Edith Annie Twidle
BDM Match (96%)	Alphonso James Stratford	Edith Annie Twidle
	💍 1912/3555
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teamster	Domestic duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Canvastown	Havelock
Length of Residence	25 years	23 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of William Twidle, Havelock
Folio	12/3358
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Mr. C. Aker

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).