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 339

District of Pahiatua Quarter ending 30 September 1913 Registrar Daniel O'Monrthe

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

2 August 1913

Alfred Smugle
Olive May Hard

Alfred Knight
Olive May Ward
💍 1913/5687

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Servant

39
19

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

3 days
11 years

Presbyterian Church, Pahiatua

13/5419

Esther Groves, mother

2 August 1913

Rev. W. Bawden Harris

No	19
Date of Notice	2 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Smugle	Olive May Hard
BDM Match (77%)	Alfred Knight	Olive May Ward
	💍 1913/5687
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Servant
Age	39	19
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	3 days	11 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Pahiatua
Folio	13/5419
Consent	Esther Groves, mother
Date of Certificate	2 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Bawden Harris

5 August 1913

John Robert Loney
Mary Jane Parker

John Robert Loney
Mary Jane Parker
💍 1913/5747

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Domestic Duties

49
33

Mangatainoka
Mangatainoka

2 years
14 years

Residence of John James, Mangatainoka

13/5421

5 August 1913

Rev. R. Abernethy

No	20
Date of Notice	5 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Robert Loney	Mary Jane Parker
	💍 1913/5747
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	49	33
Dwelling Place	Mangatainoka	Mangatainoka
Length of Residence	2 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John James, Mangatainoka
Folio	13/5421
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Abernethy

15 August 1913

Ernest Richard Forster
Ivy Ethel Le Comte

Ernest Richard Foster
Ivy Ethel Le Comte
💍 1913/6538

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21
19

Makairo
Ngaturi

21 years
18 months

Anglican Church, Mangatainoka

13/5930

Stephen Le Comte, father

15 August 1913

Rev. R. Hermon

No	21
Date of Notice	15 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Richard Forster	Ivy Ethel Le Comte
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest Richard Foster	Ivy Ethel Le Comte
	💍 1913/6538
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Makairo	Ngaturi
Length of Residence	21 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Mangatainoka
Folio	13/5930
Consent	Stephen Le Comte, father
Date of Certificate	15 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Hermon

19 August 1913

William Henry Manford Davis
Maud Georgina Webb

William George Stanford Davis
Maud Georgina Webb
💍 1913/5684

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

25
19

Konini
Konini

2 years
4 years

Residence of Walter Webb, Konini

13/5416

Walter Webb, father

19 August 1913

Rev. W. Bawden Harris

No	22
Date of Notice	19 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Manford Davis	Maud Georgina Webb
BDM Match (90%)	William George Stanford Davis	Maud Georgina Webb
	💍 1913/5684
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Konini	Konini
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Walter Webb, Konini
Folio	13/5416
Consent	Walter Webb, father
Date of Certificate	19 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Bawden Harris

2 September 1913

Norman Henry Judd
Gladys Jean Dawson

Norman Henry Judd
Gladys Jean Dawson
💍 1913/5685

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Domestic Duties

27
28

Mangamutu
Mangamutu

3 days
14 days

Residence of John Bringans, Mangamutu

13/5417

2 September 1913

Rev. W. Bawden Harris

No	23
Date of Notice	2 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Henry Judd	Gladys Jean Dawson
	💍 1913/5685
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Domestic Duties
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Mangamutu	Mangamutu
Length of Residence	3 days	14 days
Marriage Place	Residence of John Bringans, Mangamutu
Folio	13/5417
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Bawden Harris

5 September 1913

John Thomas Pagel
Winifred Emeline Hathaway

John Thomas Paget
Winifred Ernestine Hathaway
💍 1913/5689

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

26
20

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

5 years
20 years

Church of England, Pahiatua

13/5420

Ben Hathaway, father

5 September 1913

Rev. C. Smith

No	24
Date of Notice	5 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Pagel	Winifred Emeline Hathaway
BDM Match (90%)	John Thomas Paget	Winifred Ernestine Hathaway
	💍 1913/5689
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Pahiatua
Folio	13/5420
Consent	Ben Hathaway, father
Date of Certificate	5 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Smith

15 September 1913

James Joseph Palmer
Mary Eddleston

Joseph James Palmer
Mary Eddleston
💍 1913/5686

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachbuilder

28
25

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

3 days
3 days

Methodist Church, Pahiatua

13/5418

15 September 1913

Rev. R. Richards

No	25
Date of Notice	15 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Joseph Palmer	Mary Eddleston
BDM Match (79%)	Joseph James Palmer	Mary Eddleston
	💍 1913/5686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Pahiatua
Folio	13/5418
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Richards

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).