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 794

District of Buller Quarter ending 30 June 1912 Registrar F. H. Dodd

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

6 April 1912

Gilbert Joseph Doyle
Ruby Johnston

Gilbert Joseph Doyle
Ruby Johnston
💍 1912/3676

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic

31
21

Westport
Westport

10 years
1 year

Mrs Dasles' private residence, Queen St Westport

12/3383

6 April 1912

Rev. J. J. McMenamin

No	16
Date of Notice	6 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Joseph Doyle	Ruby Johnston
	💍 1912/3676
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	10 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Mrs Dasles' private residence, Queen St Westport
Folio	12/3383
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. McMenamin

10 April 1912

Elliot McDonald
Ethel May Emily Salla

Elliot McDonald
Ethel May Emily Falla
💍 1912/3673

Bachelor
Spinster

Store Keeper
Domestic

29
27

Westport
Westport

3 days
Since birth

Mrs S. Salla's private residence, Rintoul Street Westport

12/3380

10 April 1912

Rev. J. J. Burrows

No	17
Date of Notice	10 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elliot McDonald	Ethel May Emily Salla
BDM Match (98%)	Elliot McDonald	Ethel May Emily Falla
	💍 1912/3673
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Store Keeper	Domestic
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	3 days	Since birth
Marriage Place	Mrs S. Salla's private residence, Rintoul Street Westport
Folio	12/3380
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Burrows

20 April 1912

William Taylor
Phyllis Hermoine Jayen

William Taylor
Phyllis Hermione Fayen
💍 1912/2329

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Dressmaker

22
18

Westport
Westport

1 year
Since birth

Office of the Registrar of Marriages Westport

12/2118

Annie Jayen, Mother

20 April 1912

A. G. McGregor, Deputy Registrar

No	18
Date of Notice	20 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Taylor	Phyllis Hermoine Jayen
BDM Match (93%)	William Taylor	Phyllis Hermione Fayen
	💍 1912/2329
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Dressmaker
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	1 year	Since birth
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages Westport
Folio	12/2118
Consent	Annie Jayen, Mother
Date of Certificate	20 April 1912
Officiating Minister	A. G. McGregor, Deputy Registrar

24 April 1912

George Henry McElwee
Miriam Clayton

George Henry McElwee
Miriam Clayton
💍 1912/3664

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot dealer
Milliner

43
26

Westport
Westport

40 years
5 years

Residence of Mr H. Nahr, Russell Street Westport

12/3377

24 April 1912

Rev. J. R. Dart

No	19
Date of Notice	24 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry McElwee	Miriam Clayton
	💍 1912/3664
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot dealer	Milliner
Age	43	26
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	40 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr H. Nahr, Russell Street Westport
Folio	12/3377
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Dart

29 April 1912

Henry Arthur Byrne
Ellen Agnes Dennehy

Henry Arthur Byrne
Ellen Agnes Dennehy
💍 1912/3654

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School teacher

28
24

Westport
Westport

5 days
14 days

St Canices Roman Catholic Church Westport

12/3385

29 April 1912

Rev. Thos Walshe

No	20
Date of Notice	29 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Arthur Byrne	Ellen Agnes Dennehy
	💍 1912/3654
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School teacher
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	5 days	14 days
Marriage Place	St Canices Roman Catholic Church Westport
Folio	12/3385
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos Walshe

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).