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 742

District of Picton Quarter ending 31 December 1912 Registrar John George Beswick

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

26 October 1912

John Ernest Cook
Mary Whiting

John Ernest Cook
Nancy Whiting
💍 1912/8504

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotel employee
Domestic

34
19

Picton
Picton

6 Months
19 years

In the dwelling of Rev. John Dickson, Picton

12/7840

George Whiting, Father

26 October 1912

Rev. John Dickson, Presbyterian

No	38
Date of Notice	26 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ernest Cook	Mary Whiting
BDM Match (88%)	John Ernest Cook	Nancy Whiting
	💍 1912/8504
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotel employee	Domestic
Age	34	19
Dwelling Place	Picton	Picton
Length of Residence	6 Months	19 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling of Rev. John Dickson, Picton
Folio	12/7840
Consent	George Whiting, Father
Date of Certificate	26 October 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Dickson, Presbyterian

28 October 1912

Keith Allport Rayner
Wikitoria Sarah Thomas

Keith Allport Rayner
Wikitoria Sarah Thomas
💍 1912/8503

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

22
18

French Pass (Picton 3 days)
Croisilles (Picton 3 days)

6 years
3 years

In the dwelling of Rev. John Dickson, Picton

12/7839

Henrietta Beatrice Thomas, Mother

28 October 1912

Rev. John Dickson, Presbyterian

No	39
Date of Notice	28 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Keith Allport Rayner	Wikitoria Sarah Thomas
	💍 1912/8503
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	French Pass (Picton 3 days)	Croisilles (Picton 3 days)
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling of Rev. John Dickson, Picton
Folio	12/7839
Consent	Henrietta Beatrice Thomas, Mother
Date of Certificate	28 October 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Dickson, Presbyterian

20 November 1912

Albert John Bush
Violet Ethel Fuller

Robert Johnson Bush
Violet Ethel Fuller
💍 1912/8505

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Teacher

30
32

Picton
Picton

30 years
32 years

Holy Trinity Church at Picton

12/7841

20 November 1912

Rev. T. J. Smith, Anglican

No	40
Date of Notice	20 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Bush	Violet Ethel Fuller
BDM Match (87%)	Robert Johnson Bush	Violet Ethel Fuller
	💍 1912/8505
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Teacher
Age	30	32
Dwelling Place	Picton	Picton
Length of Residence	30 years	32 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church at Picton
Folio	12/7841
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith, Anglican

16 December 1912

William James Gibb
Gertrude Elsie Vollen Chapman

William James Gibb
Gertrude Elsie Voller Chapman
💍 1912/8506

Bachelor
Spinster

Skilled Labourer
Domestic

26
20

Picton
Picton

15 years
3 years

Holy Trinity Church, Picton

12/7842

Alfred Chapman, Father

16 December 1912

Rev. T. J. Smith, Anglican

No	41
Date of Notice	16 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Gibb	Gertrude Elsie Vollen Chapman
BDM Match (98%)	William James Gibb	Gertrude Elsie Voller Chapman
	💍 1912/8506
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Skilled Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Picton	Picton
Length of Residence	15 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Picton
Folio	12/7842
Consent	Alfred Chapman, Father
Date of Certificate	16 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith, Anglican

16 December 1912

Walter Edward Davies
Ella Schenkel

Walter Edward Davies
Ella Schankel
💍 1912/8507

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
School teacher

26
29

Picton
Mahau (Picton)

3 years
20 years

In the dwelling of Thomas Gullery, 'Loch Mara', Picton

12/7843

16 December 1912

Rev. T. J. Smith, Anglican

No	42
Date of Notice	16 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Edward Davies	Ella Schenkel
BDM Match (96%)	Walter Edward Davies	Ella Schankel
	💍 1912/8507
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	School teacher
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Picton	Mahau (Picton)
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling of Thomas Gullery, 'Loch Mara', Picton
Folio	12/7843
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith, Anglican

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).