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 1415

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar C. E. Shortt

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

115

31 July 1914

Richard Philson Abraham
Jessie Dorothy Brosse

Richard Philson Abraham
Jessica Dorothy Crosse
💍 1914/1721

Bachelor
Spinster

Auctioneer
Domestic duties

30
22

Palmerston North
Hastings

29 years
22 years

Church of England, Havelock

5391

31 July 1914

Rev J. A. Lush, Anglican

No	115
Date of Notice	31 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Philson Abraham	Jessie Dorothy Brosse
BDM Match (93%)	Richard Philson Abraham	Jessica Dorothy Crosse
	💍 1914/1721
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Auctioneer	Domestic duties
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Hastings
Length of Residence	29 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Havelock
Folio	5391
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J. A. Lush, Anglican

116

1 August 1914

Victor Wesley Keep
Helen McKeeman

Victor Wesley Keeys
Helen McKerwan
💍 1914/2108

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Domestic duties

24
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

10 years
18 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Palmerston North

5611

1 August 1914

Rev A. Doull, Presbyterian

No	116
Date of Notice	1 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Wesley Keep	Helen McKeeman
BDM Match (88%)	Victor Wesley Keeys	Helen McKerwan
	💍 1914/2108
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Domestic duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	10 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Palmerston North
Folio	5611
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Doull, Presbyterian

117

8 August 1914

Herbert Ernest Prentice
Catherine Isabel Duckworth

Herbert Ernest Prentice
Catherine Isabel Duckworth
💍 1914/1961

Bachelor
Spinster

Brickmaker
Tailoress

27
21

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 years
2 years

All Saints Church of England, Palmerston North

5586

8 August 1914

Rev H. G. Rosher, Anglican

No	117
Date of Notice	8 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Ernest Prentice	Catherine Isabel Duckworth
	💍 1914/1961
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brickmaker	Tailoress
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England, Palmerston North
Folio	5586
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev H. G. Rosher, Anglican

118

11 August 1914

Robert Christopher Callander
Dora Marguerite Perrett

Robert Christopher Callender
Dora Marguerite Perrett
💍 1914/1960

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

25
25

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
5 months

All Saints Anglican Church, Palmerston North

5585

11 August 1914

Rev H. G. Rosher, Anglican

No	118
Date of Notice	11 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Christopher Callander	Dora Marguerite Perrett
BDM Match (98%)	Robert Christopher Callender	Dora Marguerite Perrett
	💍 1914/1960
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	5 months
Marriage Place	All Saints Anglican Church, Palmerston North
Folio	5585
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev H. G. Rosher, Anglican

119

13 August 1914

Albert Wesley James
Rosa May Whitaker

Albert Wesley James
Rosa May Whitaker
💍 1914/1946

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

34
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

6 days
6 days

Cuba Street Methodist Church, Palmerston North

5595

13 August 1914

Rev J. H. Haslam, Methodist

No	119
Date of Notice	13 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Wesley James	Rosa May Whitaker
	💍 1914/1946
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	34	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Cuba Street Methodist Church, Palmerston North
Folio	5595
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J. H. Haslam, Methodist

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).