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 226

District of Feilding Quarter ending 31 December 1913 Registrar Charles Halliday

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

1 October 1913

Rudolph Brieske
Margaret Robertson
formerly Le Nepveu

Rudolph Briecke
Margaret Robertson Baxter
💍 1913/6984

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

38
44

Taumarunui
Taumarunui

3 days
3 days

Registrars Office, Feilding

13/6741

1 October 1913

W. M. H. Diamond, Deputy Registrar

No	43
Date of Notice	1 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rudolph Brieske	Margaret Robertson formerly Le Nepveu
BDM Match (83%)	Rudolph Briecke	Margaret Robertson Baxter
	💍 1913/6984
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	44
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Feilding
Folio	13/6741
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1913
Officiating Minister	W. M. H. Diamond, Deputy Registrar

13 October 1913

Norman Douglas True
Lena Esther Louisa Wahle

Norman Douglas True
Lena Esther Louisa Wahle
💍 1913/7677

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
17

Feilding
Feilding

12 years
9 years

Residence of Louisa Wahle, Monmouth St, Feilding

13/7440

Louisa Wahle, mother

13 October 1913

Rev. P. W. Jones

No	44
Date of Notice	13 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Douglas True	Lena Esther Louisa Wahle
	💍 1913/7677
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	17
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	12 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Louisa Wahle, Monmouth St, Feilding
Folio	13/7440
Consent	Louisa Wahle, mother
Date of Certificate	13 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Jones

20 October 1913

William John Rampson
Mabel Rina Stevens

William John Sampson
Mabel Rita Stevens
💍 1913/7675

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28
23

Feilding
Feilding

6 years
6 years

Residence of Mrs Annie Stevens, Kimbolton Road, Feilding

13/7438

20 October 1913

Rev. Geo. Budd

No	45
Date of Notice	20 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Rampson	Mabel Rina Stevens
BDM Match (95%)	William John Sampson	Mabel Rita Stevens
	💍 1913/7675
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Annie Stevens, Kimbolton Road, Feilding
Folio	13/7438
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Budd

5 November 1913

John Merrett
Mereba Raukahawai Te Rama

John Merrett
Enereta Raukahawai Te Rama
💍 1913/7817

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
20

Aorangi
Aorangi

4 years
20 years

Church of England, Feilding

7631

Te Rama, father

5 November 1913

A. S. Innes Jones

No	46
Date of Notice	5 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Merrett	Mereba Raukahawai Te Rama
BDM Match (94%)	John Merrett	Enereta Raukahawai Te Rama
	💍 1913/7817
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Aorangi	Aorangi
Length of Residence	4 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Feilding
Folio	7631
Consent	Te Rama, father
Date of Certificate	5 November 1913
Officiating Minister	A. S. Innes Jones

15 November 1913

Norman Edward Gifford Madden
Lottie Adams Madden

Norman Edward Gifford
Lottie Adams Madden Coles
💍 1913/7669

Widower
Spinster

Agent

33
25

Feilding
Feilding

5 years
20 years

Methodist Church, Feilding

13/7433

15 November 1913

Rev. A. G. Chappell

No	47
Date of Notice	15 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Edward Gifford Madden	Lottie Adams Madden
BDM Match (76%)	Norman Edward Gifford	Lottie Adams Madden Coles
	💍 1913/7669
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Feilding
Folio	13/7433
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. G. Chappell

19 November 1913

George Johnston
Florence Rutherford

George Johnston
Florence Rutherford
💍 1913/7676

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable

33
33

Feilding
Feilding

3 days
33 years

Presbyterian Church, Feilding

13/7439

19 November 1913

Rev. Geo. Budd

No	48
Date of Notice	19 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Johnston	Florence Rutherford
	💍 1913/7676
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 days	33 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Feilding
Folio	13/7439
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Budd

21 November 1913

Lawrence Claude Fergusson
Laura Annie McEldroy

Lawrence Claude Ferguson
Laura Annie McElroy
💍 1913/7668

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
26

Feilding
Feilding

3 years
10 years

Residence of Owen McEldroy, Halcombe Road

13/7432

21 November 1913

M. M. O'Dwyer

No	49
Date of Notice	21 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Claude Fergusson	Laura Annie McEldroy
BDM Match (96%)	Lawrence Claude Ferguson	Laura Annie McElroy
	💍 1913/7668
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Owen McEldroy, Halcombe Road
Folio	13/7432
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1913
Officiating Minister	M. M. O'Dwyer

20 November 1913

Frank Johnson Osborne
Mary Jane Belfield

Frank Johnson Osborne
Mary Jane Belfit
💍 1913/7674

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent

45
43

Feilding
Feilding

3 weeks
10 years

Residence of Joseph Belfield, Feilding

13/7437

20 November 1913

Rev. P. W. Jones

No	50
Date of Notice	20 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Johnson Osborne	Mary Jane Belfield
BDM Match (92%)	Frank Johnson Osborne	Mary Jane Belfit
	💍 1913/7674
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent
Age	45	43
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 weeks	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Joseph Belfield, Feilding
Folio	13/7437
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Jones

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).