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 1303

District of Hunterville Quarter ending 30 June 1914 Registrar A. D. N. Johnston

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

7 April 1914

David Foster
Elsie Watson Thompson

David Foster
Elsie Watson Thompson
💍 1914/3429

Bachelor
Spinster

Mercer
Domestic

25
20

Hunterville
Mangaonoho

3 days
10 years

Church of England, Hunterville

14/6875

Rosanna Thompson

7 April 1914

Rev. C. H. Grant Cowen

No	2
Date of Notice	7 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Foster	Elsie Watson Thompson
	💍 1914/3429
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mercer	Domestic
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Mangaonoho
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Hunterville
Folio	14/6875
Consent	Rosanna Thompson
Date of Certificate	7 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Grant Cowen

11 April 1914

George Henry Bishell
Sophia Emily Beatrice Hillmer

George Henry Bishell
Sophia Emily Beatrice Hillmer
💍 1914/3095

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

42
30

Hunterville
Ohingaiti

3 days
18 years

Residence of Mr J. G. Hillmer, Ohingaiti

14/6843

11 April 1914

Rev. E. G. Evans

No	3
Date of Notice	11 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Bishell	Sophia Emily Beatrice Hillmer
	💍 1914/3095
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	42	30
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Ohingaiti
Length of Residence	3 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J. G. Hillmer, Ohingaiti
Folio	14/6843
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. G. Evans

14 April 1914

David Weston
Cicely Elizabeth Isabella Alderson

David Weston
Cicely Elizabeth Isabella Alderson
💍 1914/3096

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
21

Hunterville
Rewa

21 years
15 years

Presbyterian Church, Rewa

14/6844

14 April 1914

Rev. E. G. Evans

No	4
Date of Notice	14 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Weston	Cicely Elizabeth Isabella Alderson
	💍 1914/3096
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Rewa
Length of Residence	21 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Rewa
Folio	14/6844
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. G. Evans

6 May 1914

William Haydon Maclean
Mildred Ethel Awdry

William Haydon Maclean
Mildred Ethel Andry
💍 1914/3061

Widower
Spinster

Solicitor
Domestic

35
21

Hunterville
Hunterville

6 1/2 years
2 years

St John the Baptist Church, Hunterville

14/6876

6 May 1914

Rev. C. H. Grant Cowen

No	5
Date of Notice	6 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Haydon Maclean	Mildred Ethel Awdry
BDM Match (97%)	William Haydon Maclean	Mildred Ethel Andry
	💍 1914/3061
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor	Domestic
Age	35	21
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Hunterville
Length of Residence	6 1/2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St John the Baptist Church, Hunterville
Folio	14/6876
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Grant Cowen

16 May 1914

Frederick Hodnett Powell
Mabel Beatrice Howard

Frederick Hodnett Powell
Mabel Beatrice Howard
💍 1914/3428

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
24

Rewa
Rewa

21 years
1 year

Presbyterian Church, Rewa

14/6874

16 May 1914

Rev. C. H. Grant Cowen

No	6
Date of Notice	16 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Hodnett Powell	Mabel Beatrice Howard
	💍 1914/3428
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Rewa	Rewa
Length of Residence	21 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Rewa
Folio	14/6874
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Grant Cowen

30 May 1914

Michael Doyle
Margaret Annie Loughnane

Michael Doyle
Margaret Annie Laughnane
💍 1914/3423

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter
Domestic

25
20

Ohingaiti
Ohingaiti

7 months
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Hunterville

14/6852

30 May 1914

Rev. Dr. Doolaghty

No	7
Date of Notice	30 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Doyle	Margaret Annie Loughnane
BDM Match (98%)	Michael Doyle	Margaret Annie Laughnane
	💍 1914/3423
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter	Domestic
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Ohingaiti	Ohingaiti
Length of Residence	7 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hunterville
Folio	14/6852
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Doolaghty

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).