Intentions to Marry, 1913 Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840452, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1913 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1913a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1913b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1913c).

Page 032

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 June 1913 Registrar Robert Brathwaite

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

24 May 1913

Henry Dennis Sheerin
Ellenor Jane O'Connell

Henry Dennis Sheerin
Ellinor Jane McGonnell
💍 1913/3358

Bachelor
Spinster

Teamster
Domestic

24
21

Hastings
Hastings

8 days
21 years

St. Matthews, Hastings

13/3058

24 May 1913

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	42
Date of Notice	24 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Dennis Sheerin	Ellenor Jane O'Connell
BDM Match (91%)	Henry Dennis Sheerin	Ellinor Jane McGonnell
	💍 1913/3358
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teamster	Domestic
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	8 days	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews, Hastings
Folio	13/3058
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

2 June 1913

Alfred Weaver
Sarah Ann Case

Alfred Weaver
Sarah Ann Case
💍 1913/4424

Widower
Widow

Wool scourer
Domestic duties

61
61

Hastings
Napier

16 years
15 years

Presbyterian Church, Hastings

13/4025

2 June 1913

Rev. Peter Ramsay

No	43
Date of Notice	2 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Weaver	Sarah Ann Case
	💍 1913/4424
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Wool scourer	Domestic duties
Age	61	61
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Napier
Length of Residence	16 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	13/4025
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Peter Ramsay

2 June 1913

Edward Wakefield
Emily Agnes Hentschke

Edward Wakefield
Emily Agnes Hentschke
💍 1913/3337

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

34
19

Hastings
Hastings

5 years
12 years

Wesleyan Church, Hastings

13/3061

Agnes [illegible] mother

2 June 1913

Rev. J. J. Wallis

No	44
Date of Notice	2 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Wakefield	Emily Agnes Hentschke
	💍 1913/3337
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	34	19
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	5 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Hastings
Folio	13/3061
Consent	Agnes [illegible] mother
Date of Certificate	2 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Wallis

4 June 1913

William Richard Hunt
Violet Evelyn Harris

William Richard Hunt
Violet Evelyn Harris
💍 1913/564

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Cook

28
22

Hastings
Hastings

4 days
22 years

Registrar's Office, Hastings

13/2377

4 June 1913

Robert Brathwaite

No	45
Date of Notice	4 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Richard Hunt	Violet Evelyn Harris
	💍 1913/564
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Cook
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hastings
Folio	13/2377
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Robert Brathwaite

5 June 1913

Vincent John Henry Austin
Mary Theresa O'Riordan

Vincent John Henry Austin
Mary Theresa ORiordan
💍 1913/3346

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Domestic

28
28

Hastings
Hastings

4 years
4 years

Roman Catholic Church, Hastings

13/3052

5 June 1913

Rev. Father Keogh

No	46
Date of Notice	5 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vincent John Henry Austin	Mary Theresa O'Riordan
BDM Match (98%)	Vincent John Henry Austin	Mary Theresa ORiordan
	💍 1913/3346
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Domestic
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	13/3052
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Keogh

6 June 1913

Joseph Aloysius Purcell
Agnes Mary Edgecombe

Joseph Aloysius Purcell
Agnes Mary Edgecombe
💍 1913/3335

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

31
23

Hastings
Hastings

3 years
4 months

Catholic Church, Hastings

13/3051

6 June 1913

Rev. Father Mahony

No	47
Date of Notice	6 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Aloysius Purcell	Agnes Mary Edgecombe
	💍 1913/3335
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	13/3051
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Mahony

7 June 1913

John Henry Harrison
Ada Rose Morgan

John Henry Harrison
Ada Rose Morgan
💍 1913/3359

Widower
Widow

Wood turner
Housekeeper

46
48

Hastings
Hastings

1 week
1 year

St. Matthews, Hastings

13/3059

7 June 1913

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	48
Date of Notice	7 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Harrison	Ada Rose Morgan
	💍 1913/3359
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Wood turner	Housekeeper
Age	46	48
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	1 week	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Matthews, Hastings
Folio	13/3059
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

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).