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 322

District of Ohakune Quarter ending 30 September 1913 Registrar William Canning

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

8 July 1913

Neil Campbell Shepherd
Elsie Grace Firman

Neil Campbell Shepherd
Elsie Grace Friman
💍 1913/8664

Bachelor
Spinster

Sergeant-Major, Defence Department
Domestic Duties

22
19

Ohakune
Ohakune

4 Days
6 months

Saint Johns Church Ohakune

8519

J. R. Firman, Father

8 July 1913

Rev. James Richard Anderson

No	8
Date of Notice	8 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Neil Campbell Shepherd	Elsie Grace Firman
BDM Match (94%)	Neil Campbell Shepherd	Elsie Grace Friman
	💍 1913/8664
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sergeant-Major, Defence Department	Domestic Duties
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Ohakune	Ohakune
Length of Residence	4 Days	6 months
Marriage Place	Saint Johns Church Ohakune
Folio	8519
Consent	J. R. Firman, Father
Date of Certificate	8 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Richard Anderson

12 July 1913

Percy Orlando Pragnell
Pollie Dunsbee

Percy Orlando Pragnell
Pollie Dunsbee
💍 1913/5100

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand
Domestic Duties

19
18

Ohakune
Ohakune

2 1/2 years
1 1/2 years

Registrar's Office Ohakune

13/473

J. Dunsbee, father

12 July 1913

W. Canning, Registrar of Marriages

No	9
Date of Notice	12 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Orlando Pragnell	Pollie Dunsbee
	💍 1913/5100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand	Domestic Duties
Age	19	18
Dwelling Place	Ohakune	Ohakune
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	1 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Ohakune
Folio	13/473
Consent	J. Dunsbee, father
Date of Certificate	12 July 1913
Officiating Minister	W. Canning, Registrar of Marriages

5 August 1913

William Tasman Stewart
Mary Campbell

William Tasman Stewart
Mary Campbell
💍 1913/6544

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic Duties

24
16

Rangataua
Rangataua

3 years
4 years

Roman Catholic Church Rangataua

13/5935

J. Campbell, father

5 August 1913

Rev. Father Julian Maillard

No	10
Date of Notice	5 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Tasman Stewart	Mary Campbell
	💍 1913/6544
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic Duties
Age	24	16
Dwelling Place	Rangataua	Rangataua
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Rangataua
Folio	13/5935
Consent	J. Campbell, father
Date of Certificate	5 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Julian Maillard

18 August 1913

Robert Patience
Mary Elizabeth King

Robert Patience
Mary Elizabeth King
💍 1913/5682

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Housemaid

26
23

Ohakune
Ohakune

4 months
1 month

Residence of R. C. Smith, Ohakune

13/5414

18 August 1913

Rev. Ernest R. Smith

No	11
Date of Notice	18 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Patience	Mary Elizabeth King
	💍 1913/5682
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Housemaid
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Ohakune	Ohakune
Length of Residence	4 months	1 month
Marriage Place	Residence of R. C. Smith, Ohakune
Folio	13/5414
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ernest R. Smith

26 August 1913

Stewart Campbell
Violet May Partridge

Stewart Campbell
Violet May Paltridge
💍 1913/5681

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic

35
22

Ohakune
Ohakune

4 Days
9 months

Sawmill Hall, Ohakune East

13/5413

26 August 1913

Rev. R. A. Catherwood

No	12
Date of Notice	26 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stewart Campbell	Violet May Partridge
BDM Match (98%)	Stewart Campbell	Violet May Paltridge
	💍 1913/5681
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Ohakune	Ohakune
Length of Residence	4 Days	9 months
Marriage Place	Sawmill Hall, Ohakune East
Folio	13/5413
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Catherwood

19 September 1913

Sydney Francis Sangster
Ethel May Norris

Sydney Francis Sangster
Ethel May Norris
💍 1913/4919

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic Duties

22
21

Rangataua
Hamilton

1 month
9 months

Registrar's Office, Hamilton

13/1570

19 September 1913

Registrar of Marriages, Hamilton

No	13
Date of Notice	19 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Francis Sangster	Ethel May Norris
	💍 1913/4919
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic Duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Rangataua	Hamilton
Length of Residence	1 month	9 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hamilton
Folio	13/1570
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Hamilton

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).