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 261

District of Hunterville Quarter ending 30 September 1913 Registrar J. T. Gilbertson

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

16 July 1913

James Joseph M'Govern
Evelyn Hirst

James Joseph McGovern
Evelyn Hirst
💍 1913/5737

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Tailoress

36
22

Hunterville
Hunterville

8 months
7 months

Church of England, Hunterville

13/5398

16 July 1913

Rev. G. H. Grant Cowen, Hunterville

No	9
Date of Notice	16 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Joseph M'Govern	Evelyn Hirst
BDM Match (98%)	James Joseph McGovern	Evelyn Hirst
	💍 1913/5737
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Tailoress
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Hunterville
Length of Residence	8 months	7 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Hunterville
Folio	13/5398
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Grant Cowen, Hunterville

1 August 1913

James Collins
Janet Chambers

James Collins
Janet Chambers
💍 1913/5118

Bachelor
Widow

Shearer
Domestic Duties

34
34

Hunterville
Hunterville

3 days
3 days

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Hunterville

13/4748

1 August 1913

A. J. B. Johnson, Registrar of Marriages, Hunterville

No	10
Date of Notice	1 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Collins	Janet Chambers
	💍 1913/5118
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Shearer	Domestic Duties
Age	34	34
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Hunterville
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Hunterville
Folio	13/4748
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1913
Officiating Minister	A. J. B. Johnson, Registrar of Marriages, Hunterville

7 August 1913

Thomas James Jamieson
Lydia Smith

Thomas James Jamieson
Lydia Smith
💍 1913/8889

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
33

Rewa
Rewa

3 years
7 years

Presbyterian Church, Hunterville

8393

7 August 1913

Rev. B. P. Evans, Rewa

No	11
Date of Notice	7 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas James Jamieson	Lydia Smith
	💍 1913/8889
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	33
Dwelling Place	Rewa	Rewa
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hunterville
Folio	8393
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. P. Evans, Rewa

20 August 1913

Harry Cecil Hearys
Alice Annie Howie

Harry Cecil Heays
Alice Annie Howie
💍 1913/5736

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanical Engineer
Domestic Duties

29
30

Hunterville
Hunterville

4 days
14 years

Presbyterian Church, Hunterville

13/5397

20 August 1913

Rev. David Martin

No	12
Date of Notice	20 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Cecil Hearys	Alice Annie Howie
BDM Match (97%)	Harry Cecil Heays	Alice Annie Howie
	💍 1913/5736
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanical Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Hunterville
Length of Residence	4 days	14 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hunterville
Folio	13/5397
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Martin

25 August 1913

William Howe
Jean M'Lachlan

William Howe
Jean McLauchlan
💍 1913/5735

Bachelor
Spinster

Road Surfaceman
Domestic Duties

34
26

Hunterville
Hunterville

5 years
26 years

Presbyterian Church, Hunterville

13/5396

25 August 1913

Rev. J. B. Hall, Hunterville

No	13
Date of Notice	25 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Howe	Jean M'Lachlan
BDM Match (93%)	William Howe	Jean McLauchlan
	💍 1913/5735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Road Surfaceman	Domestic Duties
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Hunterville
Length of Residence	5 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hunterville
Folio	13/5396
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Hall, Hunterville

12 September 1913

Robert Andrew Lilley
Violet Elizabeth Hartley

Robert Andrew Lilley
Violet Elizabeth Hartley
💍 1913/8890

Bachelor
Spinster

Butter Maker
Domestic Duties

23
22

Rata
Rewa

1 year
22 years

Presbyterian Church, Hunterville

8394

12 September 1913

Rev. B. P. Evans, Rewa

No	14
Date of Notice	12 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Andrew Lilley	Violet Elizabeth Hartley
	💍 1913/8890
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butter Maker	Domestic Duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Rata	Rewa
Length of Residence	1 year	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hunterville
Folio	8394
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. P. Evans, Rewa

13 September 1913

John Reginald Powell
Daisy Eileen Street

John Reginald Howell
Daisy Eileen Street
💍 1913/8785

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
23

Hunterville
Hunterville

6 days
20 years

Church of England, Hunterville

8590

13 September 1913

Rev. G. H. Grant Cowen, Hunterville

No	15
Date of Notice	13 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Reginald Powell	Daisy Eileen Street
BDM Match (98%)	John Reginald Howell	Daisy Eileen Street
	💍 1913/8785
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Hunterville
Length of Residence	6 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Hunterville
Folio	8590
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Grant Cowen, Hunterville

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).