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 040

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 December 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 November 1913

Keepa John McKairo
Horori Tini Hakiaha

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic duties

24
23

Hastings
Hastings

3 months
5 days

Registrars Office, Hastings

13/6685

24 November 1913

Robert Brathwaite

No	92
Date of Notice	24 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Keepa John McKairo	Horori Tini Hakiaha
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 months	5 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Hastings
Folio	13/6685
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Robert Brathwaite

3 December 1913

Samuel James Brooker
Ethel Charlotte Lachan

Samuel James Brooking
Ethel Charlotte Zachan
💍 1913/7406

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic Duties

25
24

Hastings
Hastings

25 years
5 years

Presbyterian Church, Hastings

13/7243

3 December 1913

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	93
Date of Notice	3 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel James Brooker	Ethel Charlotte Lachan
BDM Match (91%)	Samuel James Brooking	Ethel Charlotte Zachan
	💍 1913/7406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic Duties
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	25 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	13/7243
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

4 December 1913

Albert Henry William Thomson
Mary Ann Birch

Albert Henry William Thomson
Mary Ann Birch
💍 1913/7405

Widower
Spinster

Accountant
Domestic

48
30

Napier
Hastings

8 months
2 years

Presbyterian Church, Hastings

13/7242

4 December 1913

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	94
Date of Notice	4 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Henry William Thomson	Mary Ann Birch
	💍 1913/7405
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Domestic
Age	48	30
Dwelling Place	Napier	Hastings
Length of Residence	8 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	13/7242
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

19 December 1913

Samuel James Geake
Ellen Christine Hansen

Samuel James Seales
Ellen Christina Hausen
💍 1913/8697

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist
Domestic

24
18

Havelock North
Havelock North

5 years
5 years

St. Columbia Church, Havelock North

8541

Lan Pelu Hansen, father of bride

19 December 1913

Rev. R. Waugh

No	94
Date of Notice	19 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel James Geake	Ellen Christine Hansen
BDM Match (88%)	Samuel James Seales	Ellen Christina Hausen
	💍 1913/8697
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist	Domestic
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Havelock North	Havelock North
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Columbia Church, Havelock North
Folio	8541
Consent	Lan Pelu Hansen, father of bride
Date of Certificate	19 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Waugh

6 December 1913

Frederick Duncan Jameson
Lynda Eileen Bruce

Frederick Duncan Jameson
Lynda Eileen Bruce
💍 1913/7992

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

30 years
23 years

Hastings
Christchurch

8 years
23 years

St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

7782

6 December 1913

Canon W. W. Sedgewick

No	95
Date of Notice	6 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Duncan Jameson	Lynda Eileen Bruce
	💍 1913/7992
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	30 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	7782
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Canon W. W. Sedgewick

9 December 1913

Cecil Adolph Cook
Hagge Elizabeth Macdonald

Cyril Adolph Cook
Maggie Elizabeth Macdonald
💍 1913/9071

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician
Domestic

25
24

Hastings
Wellington

12 months
12 years

The House, Hill, Wellington

9 December 1913

Rev. John Gibson Smith

No	96
Date of Notice	9 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Adolph Cook	Hagge Elizabeth Macdonald
BDM Match (90%)	Cyril Adolph Cook	Maggie Elizabeth Macdonald
	💍 1913/9071
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Wellington
Length of Residence	12 months	12 years
Marriage Place	The House, Hill, Wellington
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Gibson Smith

19 December 1913

Andrew Downing
Mary Jane Donnelly

Andrew Downing
Mary Jane Donnelly
💍 1913/9027

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

25
24

Tomoana
Havelock North

5 years
24 years

Catholic Church, Hastings

8706

19 December 1913

Rev. Father Keogh

No	98
Date of Notice	19 December 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Downing	Mary Jane Donnelly
	💍 1913/9027
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Tomoana	Havelock North
Length of Residence	5 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	8706
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Keogh

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).