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 889

District of Takaka Quarter ending 30 September 1912 Registrar George Haymes Morrish

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

8 July 1912

Arthur Henry Jennings
Grace Manson

Arthur Henry Jennings
Grace Manson
💍 1912/5755

Bachelor
Spinster

factory manager
School Teacher

28 years
19 years

Motupipi
Motupipi

4 days
19 years

Private Residence of Brides Parents, Motupipi

12/5019

Thomas Manson, father of minor

8 July 1912

Rev G A Crossman

No	6
Date of Notice	8 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Henry Jennings	Grace Manson
	💍 1912/5755
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	factory manager	School Teacher
Age	28 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Motupipi	Motupipi
Length of Residence	4 days	19 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Brides Parents, Motupipi
Folio	12/5019
Consent	Thomas Manson, father of minor
Date of Certificate	8 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev G A Crossman

12 August 1912

Robert Laidlaw Paterson
Olive Violetta Caldwell Gibbs

Robert Laidlaw Paterson
Olive Violetta Caldwell Gibbs
💍 1912/6275

Bachelor
Spinster

Creamery Manager
Domestic duties

40 years
26 years

Takaka
East Takaka

2 years
24 years

Private Residence of the Brides Parents, East Takaka

12/5763

12 August 1912

Rev J D McFarlane

No	7
Date of Notice	12 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Laidlaw Paterson	Olive Violetta Caldwell Gibbs
	💍 1912/6275
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Creamery Manager	Domestic duties
Age	40 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Takaka	East Takaka
Length of Residence	2 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of the Brides Parents, East Takaka
Folio	12/5763
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev J D McFarlane

22 August 1912

Arthur Frederick Kerr
Laura May Scott

Arthur Frederick Kerr
Laura May Scott
💍 1912/5756

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27 years
23 years

Uruwhenua
Uruwhenua

9 years

Private Residence of Brides Parents, Uruwhenua

12/5020

22 August 1912

Rev G A Crossman

No	8
Date of Notice	22 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Frederick Kerr	Laura May Scott
	💍 1912/5756
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Uruwhenua	Uruwhenua
Length of Residence	9 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Brides Parents, Uruwhenua
Folio	12/5020
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev G A Crossman

24 August 1912

George Dement Grant
Silva Clara James

George Dement Grant
Silva Clara James
💍 1912/5759

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic

32 years
24 years

Puramahoi
Puramahoi

12 months
24 years

Private Residence of Frank James, Puramahoi

12/5022

24 August 1912

Rev G A Crossman

No	9
Date of Notice	24 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Dement Grant	Silva Clara James
	💍 1912/5759
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic
Age	32 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Puramahoi	Puramahoi
Length of Residence	12 months	24 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Frank James, Puramahoi
Folio	12/5022
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev G A Crossman

27 August 1912

Thomas Edward Hayton
Olive Reubena Barnett

Thomas Edward Hayton
Olive Reubena Barnett
💍 1912/5758

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter
Domestic

24 years
21 years

Nelson
Upper Takaka

3 days
21 years

Private Residence of Brides Parents, Upper Takaka

12/5021

27 August 1912

Rev G A Crossman

No	10
Date of Notice	27 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Edward Hayton	Olive Reubena Barnett
	💍 1912/5758
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter	Domestic
Age	24 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Upper Takaka
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Brides Parents, Upper Takaka
Folio	12/5021
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev G A Crossman

9 September 1912

William Alfred Harwood
Rosetta Harriet Winter

William Alfred Harwood
Rosetta Harriet Winter
💍 1912/5760

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

30 years
17 years

Motupipi
Clifton

2 months
17 years

Private Residence of Brides Parents, Clifton

12/5024

Peter Winter, Father of minor

9 September 1912

Rev G A Crossman

No	11
Date of Notice	9 September 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Harwood	Rosetta Harriet Winter
	💍 1912/5760
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	30 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Motupipi	Clifton
Length of Residence	2 months	17 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Brides Parents, Clifton
Folio	12/5024
Consent	Peter Winter, Father of minor
Date of Certificate	9 September 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev G A Crossman

13 September 1912

Antonino Ercolano
Ivy Thompson

Antonino Ercolano
Ivy Thompson
💍 1912/5762

Bachelor
Spinster

Sailor
School Teacher

27 years
21 years

Waiharakeke
Waiharakeke

6 months
21 years

Private Residence of Brides Parents, Waiharakeke

12/5025

13 September 1912

Rev G A Crossman

No	12
Date of Notice	13 September 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Antonino Ercolano	Ivy Thompson
	💍 1912/5762
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sailor	School Teacher
Age	27 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Waiharakeke	Waiharakeke
Length of Residence	6 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Brides Parents, Waiharakeke
Folio	12/5025
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev G A Crossman

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).