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 845

District of Motueka Quarter ending 30 June 1912 Registrar William McInnes

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

161

3 April 1912

Walter William Wiggins
Beatrice Clara Wilkens

Walter William Wiggins
Beatrice Clara Wilkens
💍 1912/3804

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand
Domestic Duties

30 years
20 years

Upper Moutere
Upper Moutere

3 days
20 years

House of W. William Troupe, Dovedale

12/3463

John Henry Diedrich Wilkens, father

8 April 1912

Rev. W. Hewlett

No	161
Date of Notice	3 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter William Wiggins	Beatrice Clara Wilkens
	💍 1912/3804
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand	Domestic Duties
Age	30 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Upper Moutere	Upper Moutere
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	House of W. William Troupe, Dovedale
Folio	12/3463
Consent	John Henry Diedrich Wilkens, father
Date of Certificate	8 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Hewlett

162

4 April 1912

Alexander Rubert Franklin
Catherine Marjory Drummond

Alexander Rubert Franklin
Catherine Marjory Drummond
💍 1912/3669

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

22 years
27 years

Riwaka
Moutere

7 years
27 years

House of Daniel Drummond, Braeburn

12/3400

6 April 1912

Rev. W. W. French

No	162
Date of Notice	4 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Rubert Franklin	Catherine Marjory Drummond
	💍 1912/3669
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	22 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Riwaka	Moutere
Length of Residence	7 years	27 years
Marriage Place	House of Daniel Drummond, Braeburn
Folio	12/3400
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. French

163

9 April 1912

Nolan Rowling
Mary Eliza Sherman

Nolan Rowling
Mary Eliza Sherman
💍 1912/3668

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27 years
21 years

Riwaka
Riwaka

27 years
1 year

Residence of Mr. W. Sherman, Riwaka

12/3399

9 April 1912

Rev. W. W. French

No	163
Date of Notice	9 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nolan Rowling	Mary Eliza Sherman
	💍 1912/3668
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Riwaka	Riwaka
Length of Residence	27 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. W. Sherman, Riwaka
Folio	12/3399
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. French

164

10 April 1912

Edward Cook
Ethel Jenkins

Edward Cook
Ethel Jenkins
💍 1912/3670

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Duties

25 years
25 years

Motueka
Riwaka

3 days
25 years

Presbyterian Church, Riwaka

12/3401

12 April 1912

Rev. W. W. French

No	164
Date of Notice	10 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Cook	Ethel Jenkins
	💍 1912/3670
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Duties
Age	25 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Motueka	Riwaka
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Riwaka
Folio	12/3401
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. French

165

30 April 1912

Gerald John Diggins Allcott
Maud Marion Holdaway

Gerald John Diggens Allcott
Maud Marion Holdaway
💍 1912/3667

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26 years
23 years

Lower Moutere
Braeburn

26 years
22 years

House of Mr. H. D. Holdaway, Braeburn

12/3398

30 April 1912

Rev. John W. McArthur

No	165
Date of Notice	30 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gerald John Diggins Allcott	Maud Marion Holdaway
BDM Match (98%)	Gerald John Diggens Allcott	Maud Marion Holdaway
	💍 1912/3667
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Lower Moutere	Braeburn
Length of Residence	26 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. H. D. Holdaway, Braeburn
Folio	12/3398
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. John W. McArthur

166

4 May 1912

Fritz August James Bockman
Olive Adeline Martha Bensemann

Fritz August James Bockman
Olive Adeline Martha Bensemann
💍 1912/4080

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

35 years
21 years

Upper Moutere
Upper Moutere

35 years
21 years

Lutheran Church, Upper Moutere

12/3945

4 May 1912

Rev. J. F. Hoyer

No	166
Date of Notice	4 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fritz August James Bockman	Olive Adeline Martha Bensemann
	💍 1912/4080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	35 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Upper Moutere	Upper Moutere
Length of Residence	35 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Lutheran Church, Upper Moutere
Folio	12/3945
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Hoyer

167

15 June 1912

Hermann Joseph Eggers
Ethel Florence Ewers

Hermann Joseph Eggers
Ethel Florence Ewers
💍 1912/34

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

22 years
18 years

Upper Moutere
Neudorf

22 years
18 years

Lutheran Church, Upper Moutere

12/3396

Christian John Ewers, father

15 June 1912

Rev. J. F. Hoyer

No	167
Date of Notice	15 June 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hermann Joseph Eggers	Ethel Florence Ewers
	💍 1912/34
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	22 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Upper Moutere	Neudorf
Length of Residence	22 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Lutheran Church, Upper Moutere
Folio	12/3396
Consent	Christian John Ewers, father
Date of Certificate	15 June 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Hoyer

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).