Intentions to Marry, 1914 Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840455, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1914 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1914a), Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1914b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1914c).

Page 1077

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar Robert Brathwaite

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

21 February 1914

Tom Harrison
Mary Elizabeth Evans

Tom Harrison
Mary Elizabeth Evans
💍 1914/6532

Bachelor
Spinster

Agriculturist
Domestic

25
25

Hastings
Hastings

3 weeks
15 months

Registrar's Office Hastings

307

21 February 1914

Robert Brathwaite

No	16
Date of Notice	21 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tom Harrison	Mary Elizabeth Evans
	💍 1914/6532
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agriculturist	Domestic
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 weeks	15 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Hastings
Folio	307
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Robert Brathwaite

2 March 1914

Hugh Leonard Gillies Drummond
Mary Lucy Thomson

Hugh Leonard Gillies Drummond
Mary Lucy Thomson
💍 1914/7017

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic duties

34
44

Hastings
Havelock

6 days
10 years

St. Luke's Church, Havelock

723

2 March 1914

Rev. L. Mackay

No	17
Date of Notice	2 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Leonard Gillies Drummond	Mary Lucy Thomson
	💍 1914/7017
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic duties
Age	34	44
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Havelock
Length of Residence	6 days	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Havelock
Folio	723
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Mackay

5 March 1914

Percy Walter Godbold
Lilian Sands

Percy Walter Godbold
Lilian Sands
💍 1914/7016

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Duties

26
20

Hastings
Hastings

4 days
20 years

Wesleyan Church, Hastings

722

Thomas Sands Father

5 March 1914

Rev. Walker

No	18
Date of Notice	5 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Walter Godbold	Lilian Sands
	💍 1914/7016
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Hastings
Folio	722
Consent	Thomas Sands Father
Date of Certificate	5 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Walker

11 March 1914

William Lee
Margaret Charters

William Lee
Margaret Charters
💍 1914/9125

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

30
26

Hastings
Hastings

9 years
4 years

St. Matthews Church Hastings

4220

11 March 1914

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	19
Date of Notice	11 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lee	Margaret Charters
	💍 1914/9125
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	9 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church Hastings
Folio	4220
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

11 March 1914

James Chappell
Eva Burton

James Chappell
Eva Burton
💍 1914/6900

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant's Clerk
School Teacher

29
23

Hastings
Hastings

5 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church Hastings

733

11 March 1914

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	20
Date of Notice	11 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Chappell	Eva Burton
	💍 1914/6900
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant's Clerk	School Teacher
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	5 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Hastings
Folio	733
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

13 March 1914

James Lawrence Franklin
Ada Britten

James Lawrence Franklin
Ada Brittin
💍 1914/7018

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

20
22

Havelock North
Havelock North

20 years
18 months

English Church Havelock North

724

Walter Franklin Father

13 March 1914

Rev. L. Mackay

No	21
Date of Notice	13 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Lawrence Franklin	Ada Britten
BDM Match (95%)	James Lawrence Franklin	Ada Brittin
	💍 1914/7018
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	Havelock North	Havelock North
Length of Residence	20 years	18 months
Marriage Place	English Church Havelock North
Folio	724
Consent	Walter Franklin Father
Date of Certificate	13 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Mackay

20 March 1914

Frederick Denton Wyatt
Edith Jane Gradwell

Frederick Denton Wyatt
Edith Jane Gradwell
💍 1914/6877

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

26
22

Hastings
Hastings

20 years
10 years

Wesleyan Church Hastings

725

20 March 1914

Rev. T. J. Wallis

No	22
Date of Notice	20 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Denton Wyatt	Edith Jane Gradwell
	💍 1914/6877
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	20 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Hastings
Folio	725
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Wallis

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).