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 1109

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 December 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

145

1 October 1914

Algernon Harrison
Lillia Eliza Clapperton

Algernon Harrison
Lillia Eliza Clapperton
💍 1914/3396

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Hand
Domestic Duties

25
19

Clive
Clive

2.5 years
3 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages Napier

14/7301

Henry John Clapperton, Father

1 October 1914

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	145
Date of Notice	1 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Algernon Harrison	Lillia Eliza Clapperton
	💍 1914/3396
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Hand	Domestic Duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Clive	Clive
Length of Residence	2.5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Napier
Folio	14/7301
Consent	Henry John Clapperton, Father
Date of Certificate	1 October 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

146

2 October 1914

George Henry Pullen
Alice Wright

George Henry Pullen
Alice Wright
💍 1914/3556

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

34
26

Napier South
Napier

30 years
2 years

St. Augustine's Church Napier

14/7337

2 October 1914

Rev. Canon Tuke

No	146
Date of Notice	2 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Pullen	Alice Wright
	💍 1914/3556
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Napier South	Napier
Length of Residence	30 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church Napier
Folio	14/7337
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Tuke

147

2 October 1914

James Sullivan
Maria Lily Christieson

James Sullivan
Maria Lily Christieson
💍 1914/9560

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

26
17

Napier
Napier

8 months
14 months

Catholic Church Napier

14/7316

Morton Christieson, Father

2 October 1914

Rev. John F. O'Connor

No	147
Date of Notice	2 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Sullivan	Maria Lily Christieson
	💍 1914/9560
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	17
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	8 months	14 months
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Napier
Folio	14/7316
Consent	Morton Christieson, Father
Date of Certificate	2 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John F. O'Connor

148

7 October 1914

William Frederick Harris Henderson
Ethel Emily Bower

William Frederick Harris Henderson
Ethel Emily Bower
💍 1914/3561

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician
Domestic Duties

21
20

Napier South
Napier

2 years
20 years

House of John Bower, Napier

14/7342

John Bower, Father

7 October 1914

Rev. A. Hodge

No	148
Date of Notice	7 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Harris Henderson	Ethel Emily Bower
	💍 1914/3561
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician	Domestic Duties
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Napier South	Napier
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of John Bower, Napier
Folio	14/7342
Consent	John Bower, Father
Date of Certificate	7 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Hodge

149

8 October 1914

John Patrick Sheehan
Margaret Wynn

John Patrick Sheehan
Margaret Wynn
💍 1914/3539

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

28
22

Port Ahuriri
Port Ahuriri

15 years
18 months

St Mary's Church Port Ahuriri

14/7344

8 October 1914

Rev. Father O'Sullivan

No	149
Date of Notice	8 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Patrick Sheehan	Margaret Wynn
	💍 1914/3539
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Port Ahuriri	Port Ahuriri
Length of Residence	15 years	18 months
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church Port Ahuriri
Folio	14/7344
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father O'Sullivan

150

13 October 1914

David McRitchie
Edna Elizabeth McCombe

David McRitchie
Edna Elizabeth McCombe
💍 1914/3555

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic

25
22

Napier
Napier

4 days
22 years

Methodist Church Napier

14/7336

13 October 1914

Rev. T. R. Richards

No	150
Date of Notice	13 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David McRitchie	Edna Elizabeth McCombe
	💍 1914/3555
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Napier
Folio	14/7336
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. R. Richards

151

14 October 1914

Anton Olsen
Elizabeth Alice Ashton

Auton Olsen
Elizabeth Alice Ashton
💍 1914/3540

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

36
33

Napier
Napier

3 days
28 years

32 Napier Terrace Napier

14/7345

14 October 1914

Rev. G. Evans

No	151
Date of Notice	14 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Anton Olsen	Elizabeth Alice Ashton
BDM Match (95%)	Auton Olsen	Elizabeth Alice Ashton
	💍 1914/3540
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	36	33
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	32 Napier Terrace Napier
Folio	14/7345
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Evans

152

14 October 1914

Edward John Simmons
Kate Winifred Sarah Hill

Edward John Simmons
Kate Winifred Sarah Hill
💍 1914/3537

Bachelor
Spinster

Chauffeur
Domestic Duties

25
24

Napier
Napier

3 days
4 days

St John's Cathedral Napier

14/7334

14 October 1914

Rev. Canon Mayne

No	152
Date of Notice	14 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Simmons	Kate Winifred Sarah Hill
	💍 1914/3537
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chauffeur	Domestic Duties
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St John's Cathedral Napier
Folio	14/7334
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Mayne

153

15 October 1914

Frederick Evans Allott
Agnes Edith Steel

Frederick Evans Allott
Agnes Edith Steel
💍 1914/4240

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Fireman
Domestic Duties

24
20

Napier
Gore

3 1/2 years
9 years

Anglican Church Gore

14/8128

Thomas Evered Steel, Father

15 October 1914

Rev. Albert Wingfield

No	153
Date of Notice	15 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Evans Allott	Agnes Edith Steel
	💍 1914/4240
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Fireman	Domestic Duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Gore
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Gore
Folio	14/8128
Consent	Thomas Evered Steel, Father
Date of Certificate	15 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Albert Wingfield

154

17 October 1914

Matthew John Lynam
Lizzie Roche

Matthew John Lynam
Lizzie Roche
💍 1914/3397

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi Driver
Domestic

24
18

Napier
Napier

24 years
15 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages Napier

14/7302

No one in Dominion to give consent (14 Days N)

2 November 1914

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	154
Date of Notice	17 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew John Lynam	Lizzie Roche
	💍 1914/3397
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi Driver	Domestic
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	24 years	15 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Napier
Folio	14/7302
Consent	No one in Dominion to give consent (14 Days N)
Date of Certificate	2 November 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

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).