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 1161

District of Waipawa Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar J. James

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

1024

7 July 1914

Alexander Percy McHardy
Olive Newton Snodgrass

Alexander Percy McHardy
Olive Newton Snodgrass
💍 1914/2909

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic

22
25

Waipawa
Napier

22 years
7 years

St Johns Cathedral, Napier

6761

7 July 1914

Canon F Mayne, Napier Anglican

No	1024
Date of Notice	7 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Percy McHardy	Olive Newton Snodgrass
	💍 1914/2909
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Napier
Length of Residence	22 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Cathedral, Napier
Folio	6761
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Canon F Mayne, Napier Anglican

1025

9 July 1914

Michael Davidson
Helen Ross McRae

Michael Davidson
Helen Ross McRae
💍 1914/1766

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic

33
25

Otane
Otane

4 days
2 months

St Pauls Presbyterian Church, Otane

5437

9 July 1914

Rev J Douglas Smith, Waipawa Presbyterian

No	1025
Date of Notice	9 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Davidson	Helen Ross McRae
	💍 1914/1766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Otane	Otane
Length of Residence	4 days	2 months
Marriage Place	St Pauls Presbyterian Church, Otane
Folio	5437
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J Douglas Smith, Waipawa Presbyterian

1026

14 July 1914

James Kortegast
Teresa Bernardine Boyle

James Kortegast
Teresa Bernardine Boyle
💍 1914/5198

Bachelor
Spinster

Telephone Exchange Clerk
Shop Assistant

24
23

Waipawa
Waipawa

3 days
23 years

St Patricks Church, Waipawa

9097

14 July 1914

Rev Edward Bergin, Waipawa Roman Catholic

No	1026
Date of Notice	14 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kortegast	Teresa Bernardine Boyle
	💍 1914/5198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telephone Exchange Clerk	Shop Assistant
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	St Patricks Church, Waipawa
Folio	9097
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev Edward Bergin, Waipawa Roman Catholic

1027

14 July 1914

Henare Tomoana Hutana
Hinurewa Rautangata Ropiha

Henare Tomoana Hutana
Hinurewa Rautangata Ropiha
💍 1914/1787

Bachelor
Spinster

Law Clerk
Domestic

17
18

Waipawa
Waipawa

2 weeks
4 weeks

Anglican Church, Waipawa Pa

5435

Ihaia Hutana (father); Hirani Ahitana mother of bride

14 July 1914

Rev A F Williams, Te Aute Anglican

No	1027
Date of Notice	14 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henare Tomoana Hutana	Hinurewa Rautangata Ropiha
	💍 1914/1787
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Law Clerk	Domestic
Age	17	18
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	2 weeks	4 weeks
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Waipawa Pa
Folio	5435
Consent	Ihaia Hutana (father); Hirani Ahitana mother of bride
Date of Certificate	14 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev A F Williams, Te Aute Anglican

1028

14 July 1914

William James Sutherland
Grace Jane Haycock

William James Sutherland
Grace Jane Haycock
💍 1914/3430

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
24

Elsthorpe
Elsthorpe

15 years
24 years

St Peters Church, Elsthorpe

6853

14 July 1914

Rev G W Davidson, Anglican

No	1028
Date of Notice	14 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Sutherland	Grace Jane Haycock
	💍 1914/3430
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Elsthorpe	Elsthorpe
Length of Residence	15 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St Peters Church, Elsthorpe
Folio	6853
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev G W Davidson, Anglican

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).