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 1105

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar William Buchanan

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

113

2 July 1914

John Walker
Ethel Elizabeth Tann

John Walker
Ethel Elizabeth Dann
💍 1914/1702

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

28
22

Patoka
Napier

28 years
8 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier

14/5421

2 July 1914

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	113
Date of Notice	2 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Walker	Ethel Elizabeth Tann
BDM Match (98%)	John Walker	Ethel Elizabeth Dann
	💍 1914/1702
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Patoka	Napier
Length of Residence	28 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	14/5421
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

114

2 July 1914

Hubert Walter Burridge
Emily Maud Wood

Hubert Walter Burridge
Emily Maud Wood
💍 1914/1783

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
23

Eskdale
Greenmeadows

26 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church, Taradale

14/5430

2 July 1914

Rev. F. Tucker

No	114
Date of Notice	2 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hubert Walter Burridge	Emily Maud Wood
	💍 1914/1783
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Eskdale	Greenmeadows
Length of Residence	26 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Taradale
Folio	14/5430
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Tucker

115

2 July 1914

Howard Dickman
Elsie Elizabeth Toone

Howard Dickman
Elsie Elizabeth Toone
💍 1914/1703

Widower
Spinster

Male Nurse
Domestic

27
24

Napier
Napier

7 weeks
7 days

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier

14/5422

2 July 1914

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	115
Date of Notice	2 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Howard Dickman	Elsie Elizabeth Toone
	💍 1914/1703
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Male Nurse	Domestic
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	7 weeks	7 days
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	14/5422
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

116

3 July 1914

Claude Colhoun
Elizabeth Murphy

Claude Colhoun
Elizabeth Murphy
💍 1914/1724

Bachelor
Spinster

Harnessmaker
Domestic

31
25

Napier
Napier

26 years
9 years

St Patrick's Church, Napier

14/5394

3 July 1914

Rev. Father O'Connor

No	116
Date of Notice	3 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude Colhoun	Elizabeth Murphy
	💍 1914/1724
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Harnessmaker	Domestic
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	26 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St Patrick's Church, Napier
Folio	14/5394
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father O'Connor

117

6 July 1914

Walter John Yardley McIntyre
Margaret Sharp Mitchell

Walter John Yardley McIntyre
Margaret Sharp Mitchell
💍 1914/1704

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Cook

28
22

Puketitiri
Napier

26 years
4 days

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier

14/5423

6 July 1914

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	117
Date of Notice	6 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John Yardley McIntyre	Margaret Sharp Mitchell
	💍 1914/1704
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Cook
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Puketitiri	Napier
Length of Residence	26 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	14/5423
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

118

7 July 1914

James Wilfred Herbert
Mary Adelaide Monteith

James Wilfred Herbert
Mary Adelaide Monteith
💍 1914/1728

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
28

Napier
Napier

4 days
6 weeks

St Paul's Church, Napier

14/5397

7 July 1914

Rev. J. A. Asher

No	118
Date of Notice	7 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wilfred Herbert	Mary Adelaide Monteith
	💍 1914/1728
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church, Napier
Folio	14/5397
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher

119

10 July 1914

Edward John Beresford
Florence Blanche Rousham

Edward John Beresford
Florence Blanche Rousham
💍 1914/1883

Bachelor
Spinster

Fish merchant
Domestic Duties

25
20

Napier
Napier

20 years
3 months

St Augustine's Church, Napier

14/5531

Philip Howard Rousham, Father

10 July 1914

Rev. Canon Tuke

No	119
Date of Notice	10 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Beresford	Florence Blanche Rousham
	💍 1914/1883
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fish merchant	Domestic Duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	20 years	3 months
Marriage Place	St Augustine's Church, Napier
Folio	14/5531
Consent	Philip Howard Rousham, Father
Date of Certificate	10 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Tuke

120

10 July 1914

Frank Winter Riggir
Gertrude Ida Clarke

Frank Winter Rigger
Gertrude Ida Clarke
💍 1914/5194

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Mothers Help

25
21

Whetukura
Napier

2 months
21 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Ormondville

14/220

10 July 1914

The Registrar, Ormondville

No	120
Date of Notice	10 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Winter Riggir	Gertrude Ida Clarke
BDM Match (97%)	Frank Winter Rigger	Gertrude Ida Clarke
	💍 1914/5194
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Mothers Help
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Whetukura	Napier
Length of Residence	2 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Ormondville
Folio	14/220
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1914
Officiating Minister	The Registrar, Ormondville

121

11 July 1914

Alexander Percy McHardy
Olive Newton Snodgrass

Alexander Percy McHardy
Olive Newton Snodgrass
💍 1914/2909

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic Duties

22
25

Napier & Waipawa
Napier

22 years
7 years

St Johns Cathedral, Napier

14/6761

11 July 1914

Rev. Canon Mayne

No	121
Date of Notice	11 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Percy McHardy	Olive Newton Snodgrass
	💍 1914/2909
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic Duties
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Napier & Waipawa	Napier
Length of Residence	22 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Cathedral, Napier
Folio	14/6761
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Mayne

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).