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 884

District of Reefton Quarter ending 31 December 1912 Registrar Henry Smith

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

3 December 1912

Edward Francis Jones
Vera Susan Magee

Edward Francis Jones
Vera Susan Magee
💍 1912/7377

Widower
Spinster

Fireman
Domestic Duties

30
19

Globe Hill Reefton
Globe Hill Reefton

3 years
4 years

Globe Hall, Globe Hill, Reefton

12/7940

James Magee, Father of Bride

3 December 1912

Rev. Dr. Quistwell, Anglican

No	29
Date of Notice	3 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Francis Jones	Vera Susan Magee
	💍 1912/7377
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Domestic Duties
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Globe Hill Reefton	Globe Hill Reefton
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Globe Hall, Globe Hill, Reefton
Folio	12/7940
Consent	James Magee, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	3 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Quistwell, Anglican

19 December 1912

Carl William Schwietors
Isabella Thomas

Carl William Schwieters
Isabella Thomas
💍 1912/7396

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Tailoress

28
29

Reefton
Reefton

14 years
28 years

Knox Church, Reefton

12/7941

19 December 1912

Rev. Jas. A. Brown, Presbyterian

No	30
Date of Notice	19 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Carl William Schwietors	Isabella Thomas
BDM Match (98%)	Carl William Schwieters	Isabella Thomas
	💍 1912/7396
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Tailoress
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	14 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Reefton
Folio	12/7941
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. A. Brown, Presbyterian

19 December 1912

John Baptist Berli
Mary Ann Clerkin

John Baptist Berti
Mary Ann Clerkin
💍 1912/7405

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Music teacher

33
41

Reefton
Reefton

4 years
30 years

Roman Catholic Church, Reefton

12/7949

19 December 1912

Rev. A. Galerne, Roman Catholic

No	31
Date of Notice	19 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Baptist Berli	Mary Ann Clerkin
BDM Match (97%)	John Baptist Berti	Mary Ann Clerkin
	💍 1912/7405
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Music teacher
Age	33	41
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	4 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Reefton
Folio	12/7949
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Galerne, Roman Catholic

21 December 1912

George Gregory Lockington
Letitia McMaster

George Gregory Lockington
Letitia McMaster
💍 1912/7398

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic Duties

25
20

Reefton
Reefton

21 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Reefton

12/7948

Father of Bride

21 December 1912

Rev. A. Galerne, Roman Catholic

No	32
Date of Notice	21 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Gregory Lockington	Letitia McMaster
	💍 1912/7398
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic Duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	21 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Reefton
Folio	12/7948
Consent	Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	21 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Galerne, Roman Catholic

21 December 1912

Simpson McIvor
Dinah Esther Lawn

Simpson McIvor
Dinah Esther Lawn
💍 1912/7406

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
Domestic Duties

23
18

Roa
Black's Point

4 days
18 years

Presbyterian Church, Reefton

12/7947

James Lawn, Father of Bride

21 December 1912

Rev. Jas. A. Brown, Presbyterian

No	33
Date of Notice	21 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Simpson McIvor	Dinah Esther Lawn
	💍 1912/7406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	Domestic Duties
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Roa	Black's Point
Length of Residence	4 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Reefton
Folio	12/7947
Consent	James Lawn, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	21 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. A. Brown, Presbyterian

31 December 1912

James Lynch
Margaret Ellen McNamara

James Lynch
Margaret Elley McMenamin
💍 1913/1926

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

37
29

Greymouth
Ngahere

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Reefton

13/1315

31 December 1912

Rev. A. Galerne, Roman Catholic

No	34
Date of Notice	31 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Lynch	Margaret Ellen McNamara
BDM Match (85%)	James Lynch	Margaret Elley McMenamin
	💍 1913/1926
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	37	29
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Ngahere
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Reefton
Folio	13/1315
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Galerne, Roman Catholic

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).