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 896

District of Grey Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar Benjamin Harper

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

9 January 1913

Lewis Jenkins
Jessie Muriel Ross

Lewis Jenkins
Jessie Muriel Ross
💍 1913/1937

Bachelor
Spinster

cabinet-maker
Tailoress

27
25

Wellington
Cobden

3 months
25 years

Methodist Church, Greymouth

13/1302

9 January 1913

Rev. J. N. Griffen

No	1
Date of Notice	9 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lewis Jenkins	Jessie Muriel Ross
	💍 1913/1937
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	cabinet-maker	Tailoress
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Cobden
Length of Residence	3 months	25 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Greymouth
Folio	13/1302
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. N. Griffen

15 January 1913

John Henry Mann
Emily Rosalie Frost

John Henry Mann
Emily Rosalie Frost
💍 1913/2404

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

34
29

Dunollie
Greymouth

9 months
6 months

Methodist Church, Runanga

13/1870

15 January 1913

Mr M. Ayrton

No	2
Date of Notice	15 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Mann	Emily Rosalie Frost
	💍 1913/2404
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Dunollie	Greymouth
Length of Residence	9 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Runanga
Folio	13/1870
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Mr M. Ayrton

22 January 1913

Reuben Renfred Pike
Ruth Ineson

Reuben Renfred Pike
Ruth Ineson
💍 1913/1930

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Labourer

29
23

Greymouth
Greymouth

5 years
4 years

Residence of Mr. James Geddes, Cobden

13/1301

22 January 1913

Rev. Thos. N. Griffen

No	3
Date of Notice	22 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reuben Renfred Pike	Ruth Ineson
	💍 1913/1930
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Labourer
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. James Geddes, Cobden
Folio	13/1301
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. N. Griffen

23 January 1913

Louis Victor Shepherd
Clarinda Milroy Gilbert

Louis Victor Shepherd
Clarinda Milroy Gilbert
💍 1913/1783

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill-hand
Postmistress

31
29

Paroa
Paroa

4 years
29 years

Residence of Mrs. Jessie Dunwoodie, Paroa

13/1295

23 January 1913

Venerable Geo. W. York

No	4
Date of Notice	23 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis Victor Shepherd	Clarinda Milroy Gilbert
	💍 1913/1783
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill-hand	Postmistress
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Paroa	Paroa
Length of Residence	4 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Jessie Dunwoodie, Paroa
Folio	13/1295
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Venerable Geo. W. York

24 January 1913

William Adams
Honora Curtain

William Adams
Hanora Curtin
💍 1913/1942

Widower
Widow

Boarding house Keeper
Boarding house Keeper

67
55

Greymouth
Greymouth

20 years
6 months

Residence of Mr. James Laker, Nelson Creek, South Beach

13/1307

24 January 1913

Very Rev. Dean D. P. Carew

No	5
Date of Notice	24 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Adams	Honora Curtain
BDM Match (93%)	William Adams	Hanora Curtin
	💍 1913/1942
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Boarding house Keeper	Boarding house Keeper
Age	67	55
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	20 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. James Laker, Nelson Creek, South Beach
Folio	13/1307
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean D. P. Carew

31 January 1913

Thomas Donnellan
Catherine Teresa Shanahan

Thomas Donnellan
Catherine Teresa Ohanrahan
💍 1913/1941

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Miner

33
31

Nelson Creek, Greymouth
Greymouth

33 years
31 years

Catholic Church, Greymouth

13/1306

31 January 1913

Dean D. P. Carew

No	6
Date of Notice	31 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Donnellan	Catherine Teresa Shanahan
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Donnellan	Catherine Teresa Ohanrahan
	💍 1913/1941
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Miner
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Nelson Creek, Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	33 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Greymouth
Folio	13/1306
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Dean D. P. Carew

10 February 1913

John Rodgers
Esther Mary Langridge

John Rodgers
Esther Mary Langridge
💍 1913/1784

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable
Domestic Duties

28
25

Greymouth
Greymouth

2 years
5 years

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

13/1296

10 February 1913

Venerable Geo. W. York

No	7
Date of Notice	10 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Rodgers	Esther Mary Langridge
	💍 1913/1784
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable	Domestic Duties
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	13/1296
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Venerable Geo. W. York

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).