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 720

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar Stanley Ernest Harrop

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

6 January 1913

Joseph Wellesley Colley
Ethel Mary Violet Goulter

Joseph Wellesley Colley
Ethel Violet Mary Gouller
💍 1913/1760

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
nil

28
33

Blenheim
Blenheim

7 days
33 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

13/1247

6 January 1913

Rev. P. Fay

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Wellesley Colley	Ethel Mary Violet Goulter
BDM Match (78%)	Joseph Wellesley Colley	Ethel Violet Mary Gouller
	💍 1913/1760
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	nil
Age	28	33
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	7 days	33 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	13/1247
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Fay

6 January 1913

Cecil Plum
Hilda Mary Andrews

Cecil Plum
Hilda Mary Andrews
💍 1913/1749

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic

34
23

Blenheim
Blenheim

1 year
1 year

English Church, Blenheim

13/1237

6 January 1913

Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace

No	2
Date of Notice	6 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Plum	Hilda Mary Andrews
	💍 1913/1749
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	English Church, Blenheim
Folio	13/1237
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace

8 January 1913

Harry Thomas Payne
Ethel Maude Sowman

Harry Thomas Payne
Ethel Maude Sowman
💍 1913/1750

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant N.Z. Bank
Shop Assistant

25
26

Blenheim
Blenheim

5 years
26 years

English Church, Blenheim

13/1238

8 January 1913

Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace

No	3
Date of Notice	8 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Thomas Payne	Ethel Maude Sowman
	💍 1913/1750
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant N.Z. Bank	Shop Assistant
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	5 years	26 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Blenheim
Folio	13/1238
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace

8 January 1913

Shadrack Watere
Francis Annie Martin

Shadrack Watere
Frances Annie Martin
💍 1913/2077

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Cook

69
49

Wairau Pa
Wairau Pa

45 years
10 months

Public School, Wairau Pa

13/1517

8 January 1913

Rev. Wm. Wollstein

No	4
Date of Notice	8 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Shadrack Watere	Francis Annie Martin
BDM Match (98%)	Shadrack Watere	Frances Annie Martin
	💍 1913/2077
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Cook
Age	69	49
Dwelling Place	Wairau Pa	Wairau Pa
Length of Residence	45 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Public School, Wairau Pa
Folio	13/1517
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Wollstein

10 January 1913

Albert Ritchards Gibson
Kathleen Agnes O'Leary

Albert Ritchards Gibson
Kathleen Agnes O'Leary
💍 1913/1762

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Companion

23
22

Blenheim
Fairhall

23 years
22 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

13/1249

10 January 1913

Rev. P. Fay

No	5
Date of Notice	10 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Ritchards Gibson	Kathleen Agnes O'Leary
	💍 1913/1762
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Companion
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Fairhall
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	13/1249
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Fay

10 January 1913

Francis O'Dwyer
Mary Christie

Francis O'Dwyer
Mary Christie
💍 1913/1761

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
18

Grassmere
Blind River

27 years
18 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

13/1248

John Christie, Father of Bride

10 January 1913

Rev. P. Fay

No	6
Date of Notice	10 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis O'Dwyer	Mary Christie
	💍 1913/1761
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Grassmere	Blind River
Length of Residence	27 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	13/1248
Consent	John Christie, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	10 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Fay

27 January 1913

James Mackel
Ida May Croudis

James MacKel
Ida May Croudis
💍 1913/1795

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

25
19

Spring Creek
Grovetown

3 years
19 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

13/1240

John Albert Croudis, Father of Bride

27 January 1913

Rev. P. Fay

No	7
Date of Notice	27 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Mackel	Ida May Croudis
BDM Match (96%)	James MacKel	Ida May Croudis
	💍 1913/1795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Spring Creek	Grovetown
Length of Residence	3 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	13/1240
Consent	John Albert Croudis, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	27 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Fay

18 February 1913

Jesse William Norman
Maud Florence Finlay

Jesse William Norman
Maud Florence Finlay
💍 1913/911

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Servant

36
27

Renwicktown
Renwicktown

9 years
27 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

13/318

18 February 1913

Mr. S. E. Harrop

No	8
Date of Notice	18 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jesse William Norman	Maud Florence Finlay
	💍 1913/911
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Servant
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	9 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim
Folio	13/318
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Mr. S. E. Harrop

26 February 1913

Henry Alexander Monro
Edith Sylvia Cheesman

Henry Alexander Monro
Edith Sylvia Cheesman
💍 1913/1751

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic

26
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

26 years
19 years

English Church, Blenheim

13/1239

26 February 1913

Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace

No	9
Date of Notice	26 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Alexander Monro	Edith Sylvia Cheesman
	💍 1913/1751
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	26 years	19 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Blenheim
Folio	13/1239
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace

4 March 1913

Shirley Waldemar Parker
Olive Eva Miriam Lucas

Shirley Waldemar Parker
Olive Eva Miriam Lucas
💍 1913/1758

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Duties

29
25

Blenheim
Blenheim

8 years
25 years

Presbyterian Church, Blenheim

13/1245

4 March 1913

Rev. W. O. Robb

No	10
Date of Notice	4 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Shirley Waldemar Parker	Olive Eva Miriam Lucas
	💍 1913/1758
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	8 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Blenheim
Folio	13/1245
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb

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).