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 566

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1912 Registrar Gilbert Graham Hodghins

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

360

20 April 1912

William George Nicholls
Violet Rose Aldred

William George Nicholls
Violet Rose Aldred
💍 1912/4177

Bachelor
Devoiced absolute Decree 13 April 1912

Striker

21
26

Petone
Petone

4 years
1 year

Residence of Mr. Nicholls 83 Fitzherbert Street

12/4043

20 April 1912

Rev. A. Thomson

No	360
Date of Notice	20 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Nicholls	Violet Rose Aldred
	💍 1912/4177
Condition	Bachelor	Devoiced absolute Decree 13 April 1912
Profession	Striker
Age	21	26
Dwelling Place	Petone	Petone
Length of Residence	4 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Nicholls 83 Fitzherbert Street
Folio	12/4043
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Thomson

361

22 April 1912

George Whiterod
Mary Jean Bowie

George Whiterod
Mary Jean Bowie
💍 1912/2648

Bachelor
Spinster

Tin Plate worker

28
27

Wellington
Wellington

15 years
27 years

Kent Terrace Presbyterian Church

12/2468

22 April 1912

Rev. A. Beggs

No	361
Date of Notice	22 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Whiterod	Mary Jean Bowie
	💍 1912/2648
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tin Plate worker
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	15 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Kent Terrace Presbyterian Church
Folio	12/2468
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Beggs

362

22 April 1912

Charles Edward Brodie
Berrie Agnes Hall

Charles Edward Brodie
Bessie Agnes Hall
💍 1912/2831

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
23

Wellington
Wellington

1 week
Life

Primitive Methodist Church Sydney Street, Wellington

12/2579

22 April 1912

Rev. P. J. Cossum

No	362
Date of Notice	22 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Brodie	Berrie Agnes Hall
BDM Match (94%)	Charles Edward Brodie	Bessie Agnes Hall
	💍 1912/2831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	1 week	Life
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church Sydney Street, Wellington
Folio	12/2579
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cossum

363

22 April 1912

Percy Curtis
Barbara Reid

Percy Curtis
Barbara Reid
💍 1912/2714

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

25
27

Wadestown
Wadestown

2 years
3 years

Residence of Mr. Williams, 20 Arthur Street, Wellington

12/2509

22 April 1912

Rev. W. S. Potter

No	363
Date of Notice	22 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Curtis	Barbara Reid
	💍 1912/2714
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Wadestown	Wadestown
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Williams, 20 Arthur Street, Wellington
Folio	12/2509
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Potter

364

22 April 1912

Norman Cowan Bray
Hilda Louisande Short

Norman Gowen Bray
Hilda Corisande Short
💍 1912/2779

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Manager

32
28

Bunnythorpe
Wellington

4 years
Life

St. Peters Church, Ashhurst

12/2574

22 April 1912

Arch. C. C. Harper

No	364
Date of Notice	22 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Cowan Bray	Hilda Louisande Short
BDM Match (89%)	Norman Gowen Bray	Hilda Corisande Short
	💍 1912/2779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Manager
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Bunnythorpe	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Peters Church, Ashhurst
Folio	12/2574
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Arch. C. C. Harper

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).