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 1449

District of Rangitikei Quarter ending 30 June 1914 Registrar Robert Archibald Bayliffe

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

6 April 1914

Alexander John Griffin
Ethel Madeline Clooney

Alexander John Griffin
Ethel Madeline Clooney
💍 1914/5672

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
21

Marton
Marton

Life
1 year

The Manse, Marton

3083

6 April 1914

Rev. A. Porter, Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	6 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander John Griffin	Ethel Madeline Clooney
	💍 1914/5672
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	Life	1 year
Marriage Place	The Manse, Marton
Folio	3083
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Porter, Presbyterian

8 April 1914

Henry McFarnon
Edith Mary Foster

Henry McLarnon
Edith Mary Foster
💍 1914/5671

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Waitress

34
22

Colyton
Marton

7 years
12 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Marton

3082

8 April 1914

Rev. A. Porter (Marton)

No	14
Date of Notice	8 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry McFarnon	Edith Mary Foster
BDM Match (96%)	Henry McLarnon	Edith Mary Foster
	💍 1914/5671
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Waitress
Age	34	22
Dwelling Place	Colyton	Marton
Length of Residence	7 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Marton
Folio	3082
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Porter (Marton)

11 April 1914

James Daniel Edward Morton
Adelaide Olga Sarah Alexandria White

James Daniel Edward Morton
Adelaide Olga Sarah Alexandria White
💍 1914/9210

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder & Contractor
Domestic duties

49
33

Turakina, Marton
Palmerston North

40 years
3 days

Church of England, Palmerston North

4156

11 April 1914

Herbert Geo Rosher

No	15
Date of Notice	11 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Daniel Edward Morton	Adelaide Olga Sarah Alexandria White
	💍 1914/9210
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder & Contractor	Domestic duties
Age	49	33
Dwelling Place	Turakina, Marton	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	40 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Palmerston North
Folio	4156
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Herbert Geo Rosher

13 April 1914

John Augustus Wiren
Elsie Miriam Crabb

John Augustus Wiren
Elsie Miriam Crabb
💍 1914/5518

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

29
26

Marton
Marton

3 days
26 years

St Stephens Anglican Church, Marton

3072

13 April 1914

Vincent Howard Kitcat

No	16
Date of Notice	13 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Augustus Wiren	Elsie Miriam Crabb
	💍 1914/5518
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Anglican Church, Marton
Folio	3072
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Vincent Howard Kitcat

16 April 1914

Sidney Vincent Gregory
Georgina Taylor Collins

Sidney Vincent Gregory
Georgina Taylor Collins
💍 1914/5670

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic duties

31
20

Marton
Marton

4 months
4 months

Presbyterian Manse, Marton

3081

Sarah Mitchell, Mother

16 April 1914

Rev. A. Porter, Marton

No	17
Date of Notice	16 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Vincent Gregory	Georgina Taylor Collins
	💍 1914/5670
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic duties
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Marton
Folio	3081
Consent	Sarah Mitchell, Mother
Date of Certificate	16 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Porter, Marton

29 April 1914

George Edwards
Vera Adeina Fredericks

George Edwards
Vera Adeine Friedrich
💍 1914/5669

Bachelor
Spinster

French Polisher
Dressmaker

32
29

Marton
Marton

3 days
6 years

Presbyterian Church, Marton

3080

29 April 1914

Rev. A. Porter, Marton

No	18
Date of Notice	29 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edwards	Vera Adeina Fredericks
BDM Match (89%)	George Edwards	Vera Adeine Friedrich
	💍 1914/5669
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	French Polisher	Dressmaker
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Marton
Folio	3080
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Porter, Marton

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).