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 048

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 1913 Registrar William Buchanan

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

7 April 1913

Alfred Leslie Forward
Lucie Annie Barrett

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Housemaid

25
24

Napier
Napier

1 month
6 weeks

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier

13/2378

7 April 1913

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	42
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Leslie Forward	Lucie Annie Barrett
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Housemaid
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	1 month	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	13/2378
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1913
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

7 April 1913

Samuel Francis Howard
Mary Charlotte Harpham

Samuel Francis Howard
Mary Charlotte Harpham
💍 1913/3667

Widower
Spinster

Station Manager
Domestic Duties

50
48

Matapiro
Taradale

50 years
46 years

All Saints Church, Taradale

13/3090

7 April 1913

Rev. A. P. Clarke

No	43
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Francis Howard	Mary Charlotte Harpham
	💍 1913/3667
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	50	48
Dwelling Place	Matapiro	Taradale
Length of Residence	50 years	46 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Taradale
Folio	13/3090
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. P. Clarke

7 April 1913

William Edwin Storkey
Margaret Elsie Thomson

William Edwin Makey
Margaret Elsie Thomson
💍 1913/3684

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Clerk

30
22

Napier
Napier

30 years
4½ years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Napier

13/3083

7 April 1913

Rev. J. A. Asher

No	44
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edwin Storkey	Margaret Elsie Thomson
BDM Match (91%)	William Edwin Makey	Margaret Elsie Thomson
	💍 1913/3684
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Clerk
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	30 years	4½ years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Napier
Folio	13/3083
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher

9 April 1913

William Henry Bulley
May Fredrica Harris

William Henry Culley
May Fredrica Harris
💍 1913/6337

Bachelor
Spinster

Musician
Domestic Duties

31
22

Napier
Onga Onga

4 days
18 months

St. John's Cathedral, Napier

13/609

9 April 1913

Rev. Archdeacon Ruddock

No	45
Date of Notice	9 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Bulley	May Fredrica Harris
BDM Match (98%)	William Henry Culley	May Fredrica Harris
	💍 1913/6337
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Musician	Domestic Duties
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Onga Onga
Length of Residence	4 days	18 months
Marriage Place	St. John's Cathedral, Napier
Folio	13/609
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archdeacon Ruddock

12 April 1913

Israel Jack Harris
Grace Winifred Minett

Israel Jack Harris
Grace Winifred Minett
💍 1913/572

Bachelor
Spinster

Cap Maker
Cap Maker

21
22

Napier
Napier

5 years
22 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier

13/2379

12 April 1913

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	46
Date of Notice	12 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Israel Jack Harris	Grace Winifred Minett
	💍 1913/572
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cap Maker	Cap Maker
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	13/2379
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1913
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

14 April 1913

John McVicker
Laura Burnip

John McVicker
Laura Burnip
💍 1913/573

Divorced
Spinster

Tobacconist
Domestic Duties

38
28

Napier
Napier

5 years
5 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier

13/2380

14 April 1913

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	47
Date of Notice	14 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McVicker	Laura Burnip
	💍 1913/573
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Tobacconist	Domestic Duties
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	13/2380
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1913
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

17 April 1913

James Wark
Eliza Jane Gilding

James Zark
Eliza Jane Gilding
💍 1913/3681

Bachelor
Spinster

Bookkeeper
Housekeeper

35
38

Napier
Napier

6 years
22 years

St. Augustine's Church, Napier

13/3080

17 April 1913

Rev. Canon Luke

No	48
Date of Notice	17 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wark	Eliza Jane Gilding
BDM Match (95%)	James Zark	Eliza Jane Gilding
	💍 1913/3681
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bookkeeper	Housekeeper
Age	35	38
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	6 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Napier
Folio	13/3080
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Luke

17 April 1913

Walter Peter Aitken
Gladys Blanche Wakeford

Walter Peter Aitken
Gladys Blanche Wakeford
💍 1913/574

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Servant

23
23

Napier
Napier

3 days
18 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier

13/2381

17 April 1913

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	49
Date of Notice	17 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Peter Aitken	Gladys Blanche Wakeford
	💍 1913/574
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Servant
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	13/2381
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1913
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

19 April 1913

Ernest Frederick Chapman
Mary Ann Murphy

Ernest Frederick Chapman
Mary Ann Murphy
💍 1913/3680

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Servant

35
39

Napier
Napier

18 months
19 years

St. Augustine's Church, Napier

13/3079

19 April 1913

Rev. Canon Luke

No	50
Date of Notice	19 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Frederick Chapman	Mary Ann Murphy
	💍 1913/3680
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Servant
Age	35	39
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	18 months	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Napier
Folio	13/3079
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Luke

21 April 1913

Timothy O'Keeffe
Josephine Beatrice Victoria Burns

Timothy O'Keefe
Josephine Beatrice Victoria Burns
💍 1913/3668

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Dressmaker

31
28

Napier
West Clive

5 years
28 years

St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Clive

13/3091

21 April 1913

Rev. Father Mahony

No	51
Date of Notice	21 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Timothy O'Keeffe	Josephine Beatrice Victoria Burns
BDM Match (97%)	Timothy O'Keefe	Josephine Beatrice Victoria Burns
	💍 1913/3668
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Dressmaker
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	West Clive
Length of Residence	5 years	28 years
Marriage Place	St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Clive
Folio	13/3091
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Mahony

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).